Belizeans concerned about impending war
It is not often that foreign news leads this broadcast…but by now it should be apparent that the war about to unfold in Iraq has implications that will be felt in every corner of the globe. Here in Belize, those effects will range from the fate of Belizeans on the battlefield to fewer tourists on our beaches. Jacqueline Woods begins our coverage with a look at a last ditch protest against the impending U.S. invasion.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
The demonstration was not as big as anti-war rallies held around the world, but it did bring the issue closer to home. While the protestors do not expect to prevent the inauguration of hostilities against Iraq, they felt compelled to voice their disapproval of what may be taking place as early as Thursday. The demonstrators say that although the war will be concentrated in the Middle East, its effects will be felt worldwide.
Bernard Adolphus, Protestor
“Once America and the other worlds go to war, automatically oil prices go up, because there will be so many mechanical warfare going on, land, air and sea that Belize, down this line automatically where oil is concerned the oil prices is going up. Two, all the food that we import from America, what will happen, because only of late we are getting involved with farming etcetera. We have to get much more involved, so it will affect us. Food wise, clothing wise, all these fancy rags that these people like to wear, what will happen, it will be a problem.”
Megan McDonald, Protestor
“In Belize there needs to be demonstration against this war because it’s affecting people here, it’s affecting people worldwide, and if we do not protest, nothing will be done. George Bush gave forty-eight hours before this war is going to start, forty-eight hours before he says we are going to kill you, we are going to kill our own people, we’re gonna kill Belizeans. And you can’t sit silent, you cannot be complacent, you cannot sit there and let it happen.”
Nuri Muhammad, Protestor
“This demonstration is not a demonstration against United States or the people of the United States. It’s a demonstration against a relentless move on the part of the Bush administration to enter into war. And I believe that every Belizeans has a right as a citizen of this world, and we disagree with that. We are not anti-American, we’re not trying to run down the American people, we are just simply saying that we do not agree with that policy.”
About thirty people marched from Cinderella Plaza to the United States Embassy. There the protestors were met by a large number of police who had blocked Hutson Street and kept the demonstrators away from the building. Edgar Embrey, the embassy spokesperson and Acting Deputy Chief of Mission, would not grant News 5 an interview, but said only that President George Bush had already spoken on the issue.
Scott Carrol, Protestor
“Well, I think it is pretty horrific that we are going against the United Nations into this war. There are opportunities for diplomacy to work and the United States, Spain, Britain, Australia and some other countries are not buying into that and are not allowing peace to proceed.”
Although it is almost certain that the cost of fuel will increase Esso, the main importer of petroleum to the country, assures the public that there will continue to be a steady supply.
Guillermo Alamina, Lead Country Manager, ESSO
“At the moment we are getting our supplies from the U.S. Gulf, from Texas.”
Jacqueline Woods
“And you don’t believe in any way it will be affected?”
Guillermo Alamina
“We have no reason to believe it will.”
Jacqueline Woods
“So we will continue to see shipments coming in every two weeks?”
Guillermo Alamina
“Yes. I think if the war that we had in ’91 is any indication, there should be no disruption.”
It is not certain just how many Belizean men and women will be fighting the war, but we do know there are many nervous families worried about their sons, daughters and relatives who have been deployed to the Middle East.
One Belizean who may be among one of the first U.S. soldiers to be dropped into Iraq is twenty-four year old Sgt. Frank Kuylen III. Kuylen, a paratrooper attached to the hundred and first airborne division, was sent to Kuwait two weeks ago. It will be Kuylen’s first time in combat and his parents Irma, and Frank, Jr. are nervous and cannot wait for the war to be over.
Irma Kuylen, Mother of U.S. Soldier
“You worry every minute of the day because you don’t know what will happen, you don’t know if he will come back. And that’s the worry, that something might happen and we just pray that he comes back home safe like everybody else.”
Frank Kuylen, Jr., Father of U.S. Soldier
“Although he was in Kosovo, he was just keeping the peace in Kosovo for seven months, while there was really no battle going on in there, he was just keeping the peace in Kosovo.”
Irma Kuylen
“He was suppose to have gone, I think two weeks before that and they cancelled. And knowing my son, he was just anxious. If I’m going and I’m going, let’s go…but I think he is ready.”
Thanks to the extensive training the family says their son has received.
Frank Kuylen, Jr.
“The army are preparing them for biological warfare, especially the biological warfare. He has been training with the masks that they have to use and different things. He couldn’t tell us everything, but the mask was one of the main things that he had to learn how to use and work with it.”
For security reasons, Kuylen has been unable to keep in touch with his parents. But on Monday when it became evident that there would be a war, the soldiers, including Kuylen, started to call home in what would be their last phone call until the fight is over.
Irma Kuylen
“He called me around 11:00, it was 8 o’clock his time at night, and he just said, Hi mom, just wanted you to know that I’m fine and if anything he was going to the war today.”
The Kuylen’s not only wish that their son will be safe, but that the war will not last long.
Frank Kuylen, Jr.
“Definitely, I noh want it to be stretched on at all. Just want to go in, take out Saddam and back home.”
Kuylen is married to Belizean Anya Lizama who is presently studying in Canada. Jacqueline Woods for News 5.
The consensus among officials is that in addition to skyrocketing fuel prices, the war’s greatest impact on Belize will be a reduced flow of tourists, including both overnight and cruise visitors. The continued losses by air carriers serving Belize could also lead to reduced service to the country, although right now all carriers on the Belize route, with the exception of Air Jamaica, are running at close to full capacity. In the long run, some tourism experts see a silver lining to the war and its aftermath, in that they expect North Americans to change their travel patterns away from long trips to Europe and Asia in favour of shorter travel to places like Belize that are relatively close to home and free from the threat of terrorism.
