(Note: This TIME COME post features a guest piece by Mr. Grinch – or at least inspired by him. And Happy Holidays to all my readers.)
By ‘Di Grinch’, TIME COME #18, 20 December 2024.
I live on hill where it blows and it snows. So, I crave a place with no need for ploughs. Perhaps a warm isthmus with a nice quiet Christmas. To catch some warm breeze and escape the deep freeze. My mutt Max says, ‘let’s do Belize’. Hmmmm? But is it just what he heard from that migratory bird? That Belize now has tons of free turkeys and hams. Free turkeys and hams! Is it but a scam? The Grinch knows what to do! Trusting Max nor A.I., I will employ a good spy. Christmas in Belize? Do I go, or abort? Well, let me first read my intel report.
Dear Mr. Grinch,
Greetings from Belize and much thanks for the commission – though please note that I am a ‘consultant’, not ‘spy’. But straight to the point as your deadline is tight. The rumour Max heard is no rumour at all. At Christmas in Belize there are free turkeys and hams! There are also loud parties with free food and free drinks, with free gifts for the kids, and with free raffles of fridges. And some get free cash, if cards are played right. Who can argue with all this free giving in a season of joy? Perhaps you, Mr. Grinch? But I rudely digress. So yes, Max was right about free turkeys and hams.
It’s important you know that some free ‘givings’ at Christmas are well above board. Several kind people and charity groups give food (including turkeys and hams) and gifts to some most in need. But these are not the free turkeys and hams that have Max excited. Those ones are doled out by politicos painted deep blue or deep red. (No green as yet, I am afraid, Mr. Grinch). The Blues – the People’s United Party (PUP) – and the Reds – the United Democratic Party (UDP) – have made such free ‘givings’ quite a fine art. How did it come to this you ask Mr. Grinch? The explanation does require some contextualization.
From Informal to Normal
It began quite innocently you see, Mr. Grinch. By 1981, when Belize became free, some politicians of both colours hosted wee parties for constituents at Christmas. It was mostly informal and the ‘givings’ were small. They used their own funds or donations from family and friends. Some used part of their constituency ‘vote’ they got from the state, or small contributions from companies like Belize Estate.
Over the next three decades, the practice of ‘free givings’ expanded each Christmas. And so, the Blues and the Reds needed more and more funds for more and more free turkeys and hams.
Reds Up the Game
Voila! In December 2011, the then Red Government had an epiphany: Let’s just officially use public money! All in plain sight. If it is all formalised there is no need to hide giving out turkeys and hams. So, $1.4 million was allocated to a scheme with a name shrewdly innocuous: Christmas Cheer. Who can argue with that? And the money did flow. Red politicians in 31 divisions, elected or not, got $40,000 each for Christmas goodies for their constituents. But the Blue Opposition was quite vexed that its politicians received zero. They did, indeed, moan – and accused the Reds of vote-buying, gross bribery and abusing public funds.
Well, the Reds won again in 2012, and by 2013, Christmas Cheer reached a new record of $2.3 million. This time, the 17 Red elected representatives got $90,000 each. The 14 Reds who were just standard bearers (not in the House) got $25,000 each. But guess what, Mr Grinch? The 14 Blue representatives got $25,000 each! Though they complained about the ‘inequity in distribution’, the Blues, took their smaller Cheer with little contrition – and continued to do so except for one year. Did the Blues just forget their vote-buying concerns? Well, they used the excuse that they too needed state money to meet the growing demand for turkeys and hams.
By 2020, when the long-reigning Reds got the voters’ boot, Christmas Cheer was its own institution – a national programme much anticipated every December. So, would the new Blue Government, that came to power with the promise to clean up corruption, disband or clean up Christmas Cheer? Alas no, Mr Grinch.
Blues Up the Game
Instead, the Blues embraced the Reds’ Christmas Cheer tactics, it seems without question. In the Christmas of 2020 (that annus horribilis) the Blues called its programme ‘December COVID-19 Relief Fund’ with an allocation of $930,000. Although very much needed in that dark December, it very much resembled a Christmas Cheer. Since 2021, with the Blues in control, Christmas Cheer has both thrived and solidified. And so embedded was the name that the Blues could not lose it. In 2022, all 31 elected representatives got $75,000 each in Christmas Cheer. The total that year of $2.3 million matched or exceeded the Reds’ 2013 record.
But the Blues did initiate two noteworthy ‘Cheer’ changes. First, elected representatives of both the Blues and the Reds now receive equal amounts of Christmas Cheer funds. Then, in a change more recent, Cheer is allocated based roughly on the number of voters in a constituency. For example, this year, in 2024, all elected representatives of larger constituencies got $90,000 each and those of smaller constituencies got $60,000 each.
Does it not all sound so fair? Well, at least until you realise that by adding some rules to the partisan game, it becomes further normalised with more official permission to splurge. An informal bi-partisan agreement perhaps? So, when next in power, the Reds will maintain equity in distribution?
In 2024, 43 years after independence, Christmas Cheer and Santa Claus politicians are now deeply embedded in Belize’s political and Christmas culture. Christmas Cheer is now institutional policy, eagerly supported by the Blues and the Reds – and awaited each December by more and more people. But I know Mr. Grinch, you also did ask, “Is it but a scam?”
Is it but a Scam?
Before I respond, you should know, Mr. Grinch, that Christmas Cheer is but one piece of the broader practice of handout politics in Belize. This is where Red and Blue politicians hand out money, resources and services to voters in return for political support – usually their votes. Besides Christmas Cheer, there are also ‘Cheers’ for Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and such other big periods – like when the school year begins.
And every week the politicians of the Reds and the Blues hold ‘clinics’ where constituents can go to personally ask them for bills to be paid, or for cash or for land or for some government favour. Then there are the big Christmas gimmicks like writing off mortgages (2011 by the Reds) and waiving GST (2024 by the Blues). And all this is before it is election day once again. But it’s time to talk scam.
Scam 1: Tek di Turkey, Tek di Ham, Vote PUDP
The Blues and the Reds all say they are just ‘helping’ the needy and bringing good cheer. But most everyone knows that it’s part of the partisan game where the prize is winning the next election. It’s best seen as ‘transaction’: from my hand to yours – and you owe me something. For you see Mr. Grinch, no matter what accountability measures they boast, each politician ensures that each voter knows that it is, he or she, the individual politician, who is giving. From my own hand to yours.
That’s why politicians say insane things like, “I gave Miss Gertrude a turkey and ham.” Or “I gave all the kids in my constituency free gifts.” Or “I gave your daughter a scholarship?” So, Scam 1 is that politicians of the Blues and the Reds personally give voters ‘free’ Christmas goodies but expect their votes in return. But is free really free?
Scam 2: Use the People’s Own Money
Scam 2 is about where the money comes from for tens of thousands of turkeys and hams. You will recall, Mr. Grinch, that Christmas Cheer money comes from the public treasury. So, the funds for Christmas Cheer can come from things like taxes, duties, fees, returns on investments, grants or loans. In other words, from the people’s money or the people’s debt.
Few people know that the $1.4 million for the 2011 Christmas Cheers came from proceeds received by the Red Government from shares it held for the people in the then newly nationalised Belize Telemedia Limited. Then between 2013 and 2019 the Reds funded most of their Christmas Cheers from the PetroCaribe loan provided by Venezuela. One credible estimate is that the total expended just on Christmas Cheer in this period was some $9,000,000.00.
In this term of office, the Blues do not say much about the exact public source of the funds for their Christmas Cheers. It is just another line in an annual or supplementary budget. And whereas the Blues used to boastfully announce the monetary amounts for Christmas Cheers in the House, none was made for the over $2 million in 2024. So, Mr. Grinch, the scam here is deceitfully simple: for their personal electoral gain, the Blues and the Reds give people back their own money and make it seem free. But is free really free?
I know time is short, but two more things you must know. One is that local governments (like city and town councils) and statutory bodies (like the Belize Tourism Board) also dole out Christmas Cheer, funded largely by the people’s money. The second is that both the Blues and the Reds also get private funds from some big wigs to supplement their Christmas Cheers. The funds or goods or discounts that they get, allow them, in theory, to have more goodies to barter with. There are no records kept here, for Belize has no laws that require political parties and politicians to disclose their donations.
Scam 3: Immediate Relief but Core Problems Remain
I suggest, Mr. Grinch, that Scam 3 is the most disillusioning of all. Who can blame needy people for accepting free turkeys and hams and free gifts for kids at this time of year? On top of high poverty and much inequality, inflation is rough, making times harder for many.
But however much festive joy they bring and however many bellies they full, are most Christmas Cheer givings not just immediate gratifications? So, Mr. Grinch, even as some in need surely do benefit, these seasonal givings are like opiate-laced band-aids. The Blues and the Reds – and some of the people – ignore key questions like: “Why can’t more people afford their own turkeys and hams? And if there is to be a state programme, why must it be implemented by the Blues and the Reds? In short, Mr. Grinch, handout programmes like Christmas Cheer do not address why so many people are poor. Or why a few have so much and most have so little. In fact, such programmes may just foster even more socio-economic dependency on the Blues and the Reds.
The more deeply we look, the more evidence we see that the short-term benefits of such things as ‘free’ turkeys and hams are outweighed by their long-lasting damaging effects. For sure programmes like these are wide open to corruption, to waste. How do we know that no public funds end up in private hands or that no deals are made with suppliers for kickbacks? And one often hears of double dipping – where more cunning constituents get again and again, while others get none. What promises are made to big private donors and how much public revenue is lost in this game? How much funds are wasted that could have gone to under-funded social programmes ran by the state? No time to explore such questions right now Mr. Grinch. Your deadline is today, and I must wrap up.
The Grinch and Max in Belize?
So, Mr. Grinch, by now you know that Belize’s turkeys and hams are not really free – they just seem to be. You may agree that, in principle, there is nothing wrong with people really in need getting social and economic assistance from the state. The issue is how it is done. We have seen that when programmes such as Christmas Cheer, go ‘through’ the hands of Blues and the Reds, their politicians use partisan discretion to decide who gets what and how much. It not only bad for democracy and people’s development, but, as you may suspect, it is not sustainable.
But let’s dream for a bit, Mr. Grinch, that most Belizeans agree the needy should receive things like turkeys and hams from public funds each December. Then a sound social welfare programme, based on merit and transparency, is designed and established in a department of government. Then trained public officers implement the programme with full accountability and provide audited records for all to see. Politicians will be banned from any involvement – apart from informing their constituents that the programme exists. Wake up, Mr. Grinch!
While your key query was about scams around hams, please do not assume that all is bad in Belize. Of course they are problems, but good things do happen. Belize has great natural beauty with warm beaches, blue seas, a long barrier reef, hundreds of birds, majestic Maya temples and lush forests that are greener than you. And yes, most Belizeans are really welcoming and nice – though I fear this could be a put off knowing you. The economy is growing, and unemployment is low. Minimum wage has been raised, and a National Health Insurance scheme is expanding. And more good things can happen – if Belize can fix things like free turkeys and hams.
Mr. Grinch, I hope that this brief will help you decide whether you and Max will do Belize this Christmas. I am sure if you do, that Max can ‘arrange’ to eat dozens of ‘free’ turkeys and hams. As for you, Mr Grinch, you now know that Christmas in Belize comes with big noisy parties, lots of bright lights, much feasting on hams, and sleek politicians. All things that you say make you more and more grumpy. Perhaps you stay home and just send Max to Belize? Happy Holidays Mr. Grinch. Do extend my greetings to Max and the Whos.
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Dear Dr. Vernon,
I appreciate your wee brief, though it has but increased my grief. I deduce that if we go to Belize, we may never leave – at least not in one piece. So, Max and I will stay put and just travel to nearby places by foot. Bah Hambug!
Mr. Grinch
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