By: Omar Silva I Editor/Publisher

National Perspective Belize

www.nationalperspectivebz.com

 Belize City Monday, 8th December 2025

The Media’s War Chest Obsession...

In Belize, we no longer ask who has ideas, who has solutions, or who has vision.

We ask only one vulgar question:

“Who has the money?”

That single question exposes the sickness at the heart of both our politics and our media.

The recent SEVEN News feature on whether Tracy Panton’s so-called “chikilinks” can fund the UDP is not journalism in the democratic sense — it is campaign finance theatre, dressed up as political reporting. The subtext is unmistakable:

If you don’t have a war chest, you don’t deserve to lead.

That is not democracy.

That is auction politics.

The Real Question the Media Refuses to Ask

SEVEN News asks:

“Can her chikilinks fund the UDP?”

But the question that should terrify the nation, and which the mainstream media deliberately avoids, is this:

Who has been funding BOTH the PUP and UDP for the past 44 years — and what have they received in return?

Because the truth Belize is not being told is this:

• The same financiers rotate between red and blue
• The same construction magnates win the same contracts
• The same import barons dominate the ports
• The same land speculators acquire public assets
• And the same inside traders thrive regardless of which party wins

This is not party competition.

This is elite continuity.

Media as Financial Dependent, Not Public Watchdog

Belize’s mainstream media is no longer structurally independent. It is financially dependent on election cycles, campaign advertising, political sponsorships, and carefully brokered access.

That dependence has consequences:

• Investigations into campaign donors vanish
• Shadow financiers are never named
• Contract trails are never followed
• Political benefactors are never exposed
• Ports, land deals, cruise projects, free zones, and procurement scandals are never connected to campaign money

Why?

Because the same financiers who fund parties also fund media survival during election season.

This is why:

• Media houses cannot afford to bite the hands that feed them
• Journalism becomes brand-safe
• Corruption becomes selective outrage
• And propaganda becomes prime-time content

The Dangerous Lie of “Integrity as Wealth”

Tracy Panton says:

“My integrity is my wealth.”

That sounds noble. But integrity without financial transparency becomes a shield for secrecy, not a weapon against corruption.

She also admits:

“I have the support of many members of the business community who have traditionally supported both the UDP and the PUP.”

That single line demolishes the illusion of political rivalry.

It confirms what the people already know:

the financiers never lose elections — only Belizeans do.

The War Chest Obsession Is an Anti-Democratic Disease

The media’s obsession with:

• Who has more money,
• Who can outspend whom,
• Who can buy more ads,
• Who can fund more motorcades,

…has nothing to do with governance, policy, or national development.

It only serves one purpose:

To condition the Belizean voter to believe that money — not conscience, not competence, not vision — is the legitimate source of political authority.

This is how:

• The poor are reduced to voting assets
• The middle class is trapped in dependency
• The political extractive class remains untouched
• And the same economic overlords recycle themselves through red and blue fronts

Why FUTURE Terrifies the System

1. FUTURE does not threaten the PUP.
2. FUTURE does not threaten the UDP.
3. FUTURE threatens the financiers.

Because FUTURE says:

• Leadership does not come from war chests
• Power does not come from donors
• Legitimacy does not come from oligarchs
• Authority does not come from media favor
• And politics must be liberated from campaign cartels

This is why:

• FUTURE could be ignored
• Ridiculed
• Blacked out
• Or distorted

Because a movement built on conscience instead of cash breaks the entire system.

Message to Belize’s Voters

If you continue to vote based on:

• Which party has more money,
• Which party floods your screen with ads,
• Which party controls media narratives,

Then you will remain politically rented, not represented.

The war chest is not a sign of strength.

It is proof of ownership.

And the people of Belize have been owned long enough.

It is time to break free !