The Case of the Maya Villages of Belize: Reversing the Trend of Government Neglect to Secure Indigenous Land Rights

Extract

1. Introduction

Six buses that had been travelling over 200 miles from the southern part of Belize since well before dawn arrived at the courthouse in Belize City in the morning of 3 April 2007. Out poured upwards of 300 people from several Maya villages. They gathered with banners and Maya ritual in a show of solidarity and support for two land rights lawsuits filed in the Supreme Court of Belize by the Maya villages of Conejo and Santa Cruz. The villagers marched from the courthouse several blocks to a large meeting room at a prominent hotel, where representatives of the two claimant villages, Maya leaders and their lawyers made statements to the press. The Belize news media gave extensive coverage to the filing, and it quickly became a major story—and eventually an important precedent in the struggle worldwide of indigenous peoples to secure rights in lands and natural resources.