Sustainable Ecotourism in Central America by Miller Andrew P.;

Author:Miller, Andrew P.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic
Published: 2012-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

While Belize certainly suffers from many of the same problems as its neighbors—such as income and land inequality—for the most part these problems are not as acute as in other places in Latin America. Belize bears some resemblance to Costa Rica as each country had a relatively mild colonial experience compared to other countries in Central America. The similarity between Belize and Costa Rica is borne of the evolution of over three hundred years of forced labor under Spanish colonialism in places like Guatemala and Peru and its absence in Belize and Costa Rica. Furthermore, in much of Belize and Costa Rica it was necessary to engage in a wage labor system because of the acute labor shortages in each place. The differences in ethnic relations in Belize and Costa Rica versus many of its neighbors is a result of the difference between forced labor and wage labor over the course of Spanish colonialism. All of this means that “Belize lacks the violent class and racial conflict that has figured so prominently in the social life of its Central American neighbors.” (Metzgen 2012, 29)

Economically Belize has spent its entire history on the periphery of the world’s economy and has been beholden to a range of economic forces under which they had no control. For most of Belize’s experience under British colonialism, the Belizean economy was one in which “production followed the dictates of trade, as the British markets, merchants, and investors determined what Belizeans would produce and how much they would get for it.” (Bolland 1986, 69–70) This subservience to outside economies continued when Belize became independent and since that time the country relied on a small number of exports which for the most part have been determined by the needs of the international market. In addition, Belize represents an even more extreme example of something that is common throughout the region: states that export raw materials while importing almost all of their finished goods. One key difference between Belize and many of its neighbors is that for a good deal of its history Belize did not develop much of an agricultural export economy as the bulk of raw material production was in logging and forest products. The reliance on outside actors for economic decisions for the bulk of Belizean history also means that they have a very low level of entrepreneurship and have had a difficult time developing industrial production on any scale.

A particularly troubling legacy of Belizean history is the long-standing border dispute with Guatemala. Despite the agreements at the time of Belizean independence, many in Guatemala still believe that Belize should be a part of the modern Guatemalan state. In particular, Guatemala argues that the southern half of Belize should be ceded to them. Although this is one of the longest running border disputes in Latin America, it appears that the matter could finally be settled once and for all when the two countries signed an agreement to hold a referendum on the issue in each state to decide the issue.

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