Tony Rath on ICJ ‘Propaganda’

With twenty-three days to go until the I.C.J. referendum on April tenth, it is expected that opposing campaigns will ramp up their efforts to sway people to vote a particular way. In January, a poll conducted by poll Belize dot org showed that a majority of the people who were sampled were leaning towards a NO vote. It also showed that a considered percentage of individuals polled were undecided. Well-known and established photographer and blogger, Tony Rath, has yet to decide as he continues to read facts of both sides. As an undecided voter, Rath was one of three guests who appeared on Open Your Eyes and one of the topics he spoke of is the supposed impact that the ‘claim’ has on the Chiquibul Forest.

Tony Rath, Photographer and Blogger

Tony Rath

“It’s a very condescending document but the propaganda in there is extremely heavy. They came to me for images to put it in there and I did not want them to use it for propaganda. The propaganda is that it will cost the Belize because of this claim. They started saying that it has cost us our timber in the Chiqubul, wildlife. That is not the Guatemalan government coming into the Chiquibul. It is poverty on the other side which is being addressed by FCD. So it is sort of like they lay on a lot of propaganda which they know it is propaganda. That destroys their credibility when it comes to anything else that they say.”