Belize Forum

steve2021
Joined 2015
Posts: 37

7 years ago

Down to the Banana Republic...

7 years ago

To be honest, I don't know why I'm posting this. Maybe I'm running behind on my fair share of abuse. I haven't been insulted or cussed at for a while, but I have a funny feeling that's about to change. That's what happens when you take on people who are emotionally or financially (or both) in a place like Belize.

I can't help but wonder if bobbyvee started out this way. But I digress,

This week's episode of The Expat Files podcast deals mostly with some recent developments in Belize. (In the interest of full disclosure, the listener named Steve mentioned in the podcast is indeed yours truly.)

The podcast is available here:

https://theexpatfiles.podbean.com/

The episode in question is dated February 3 2017. The part that deals with Belize begins at about the 7:25 mark.

To make a long story short, Belizean news reports (the newspaper Amadala and Channel 7 out of Belize City) indicate that the Belizean economy is doing laps around the bottom of the toilet bowl.

Meanwhile the Government of Belize (GOB) is involved in litigation arising from the purchase of BTL, the Belizean phone company. Basically, the GOB is just days away from defaulting on that debt and has lost a couple of rounds in the US courts that would have prevented their creditor (a Brit named Michael Ashcroft) from attaching Belizean assets in the US. If those assets are attached, the prospects for the Belizean economy are (to put it mildly) not looking good.

If you're interested, the GOB filed an appeal with the US Supreme Court and lost (the Supremes declined to hear the case and let stand previous court victories for Mr Ashcroft.

The GOB really doesn't have anywhere else to go. The Barrow administration swears it's not going to pay a dime, in which case it defaults on a major debt and will be lucky if it can finance a stick of gum for the foreseeable future. Worst case, I guess, is that the GOB defaults AND Ashcroft uses the US courts to attach Belizean assets held in US banks, In that scenario, the GOB is basically bankrupt. That's sure to do wonders for property values on the Cayes, isn't it?

Belizean mass media is pretty easy to find on the Internet, so there's no reason for you to take my word for any of this, Have a look here:

http://amandala.com.bz/news/ashcroft-belizes-jugular/

and here:

http://www.7newsbelize.com/printstory.php?func=print&nid=39153

and here

https://vimeo.com/201374275

Anyhow, if you're planning a move to Belize, you might want to think this over. At the very least, the near future might not be the best time to make that move. (If you ask me, the not-so-future doesn't look so hot, either, but your mileage may vary. SOMEBODY has to keep P.T Barnum looking like a genius, Better you than me.)

If you're feeling blind sided by this, you shouldn't. As I mentioned, Belizean media is pretty easy to find on the internet. Probably the least controversial suggestion I'm going to make for prospective Belizean expats is that you need to familiarize yourself with some, or all, of the following outlets:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvllzUvzVaXGBTiHNWHV9cg

http://www.7newsbelize.com/

http://edition.channel5belize.com/

http://amandala.com.bz/news/

There, I did it. Now I know how Donald Trump feels when he signs off of Twitter at the end of the day, :-)

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