By: Omar Silva

National Perspective Belize – Digital 2026

www.nationalperspectivebz.com

EDITORIAL

Belize City: Friday 20th February 2026

Belize did not “accidentally” return to the global corruption conversation.

Belize earned it.

Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2025 places Belize at 36 out of 100, ranking 104 of 182 countries — a score that signals persistent concerns about public-sector integrity and enforcement credibility. Transparency International

A score in the 30s is not a passing grade. It is a warning label.

But the CPI number alone is not the story.

The story is how this administration has learned to appear compliant while governing in opacity — how the machinery of accountability has been kept intact on paper but weakened in practice.

This is not about one scandal.

This is about a system.

UNCAC Exists — But Enforcement Is Optional

Belize acceded to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in 2016. United Nations Convention Against Corruption

UNCAC requires:

• asset declaration systems,
• independent oversight,
• public procurement transparency,
• protection for whistleblowers,
• criminalization of illicit enrichment,
• international cooperation.

On paper, Belize checks boxes.

In practice, enforcement is inconsistent, slow, or politically uncomfortable.

The tactic is simple:

Keep the framework.

Avoid the consequences.

UNCAC does not fail because it is rejected.

It fails because it is not empowered.

FOIA: When Asking Questions Becomes a Legal Battle

The Freedom of Information Act was designed to allow citizens to follow public money.

Yet in 2025, when a request was made for disclosure of government-paid legal fees, the Attorney General’s Ministry refused disclosure, citing exemptions. The Ombudsman directed partial release. The Attorney General appealed.

That is not administrative caution.

That is institutional resistance.

When public spending details require appeals and counter-appeals, transparency ceases to be a right and becomes a contest of endurance.

UNCAC emphasizes transparency in public spending.

Belize responds with exemptions.

Asset Declarations Without Consequence

Belize has an Integrity Commission process.

Declarations are filed.

But filing is not enforcement.

The central question remains unanswered:

• Who verifies declarations?
• Who audits discrepancies?
• What sanctions are imposed for non-compliance?
• How many referrals have resulted in prosecution?

Transparency without verification is theatre.

UNCAC calls for effective, proportionate sanctions.

Belize offers paperwork.

Oversight That Arrives a Decade Late

In October 2025, the Joint Public Accounts Committee examined an Auditor General’s report for fiscal years 2015–2016.

Nine to ten years after the fact.

Oversight delayed is deterrence destroyed.

If scrutiny comes nearly a decade later, political and administrative actors operate knowing that consequences — if any — will land long after the public outrage window closes.

That is not accountability.

That is time-based insulation.

Political Financing: The Dark Core of the Problem

Belize still lacks finalized, enforceable campaign finance transparency legislation.

Drafts circulate.

Consultations occur.

But binding disclosure with audit powers and penalties remains unfinished.

This matters because political financing is the gateway to systemic corruption.

When campaign donors remain undisclosed:

• contracts appear as repayment,
• appointments look like protection,
• policy decisions resemble favors.

UNCAC explicitly links transparency in political funding to corruption prevention.

Belize has yet to operationalize that link.

Procurement Transparency: Headline Numbers Without Final Bills

Belize maintains a procurement portal.

Tenders are listed.

Awards are published.

But what the public rarely sees in a consolidated, searchable format:

• contract variations,
• cost escalations,
• scope changes,
• extension justifications,
• final completion cost.

Transparency that ends at the award notice is incomplete.

UNCAC requires full-cycle transparency.

Belize often delivers partial-cycle disclosure.

Beneficial Ownership: Known to Regulators, Not to Citizens

Regulatory frameworks require identification of beneficial owners.

But public visibility remains limited, especially when politically exposed persons or proxies may be involved in entities interacting with public contracts or land transactions.

Sunlight confined to regulators is not the same as public accountability.

UNCAC promotes transparency to prevent concealment.

Opacity breeds suspicion.

The Pattern Is the Evidence

The government may argue:

• “No conviction has been proven.”
• “The CPI is perception-based.”
• “We have laws in place.”

But the pattern is the indictment.

• Asset declarations without visible enforcement.
• Oversight lag measured in years.
• Political financing reform unfinished.
• Procurement transparency partial.
• Beneficial ownership opacity.

Individually, each may be defended.

Collectively, they form a system of managed accountability.

And that system produces a CPI score of 36.

The Real Question: Why Neutralize UNCAC?

Because full UNCAC implementation would require:

real whistleblower protection,

• real prosecution of illicit enrichment,
• real public access to spending data,
• real scrutiny of political financing,
• real independence of oversight bodies.

Full implementation is uncomfortable.

Partial implementation is controllable.

And control is the objective.

Belize’s Reputation Is Not the Only Casualty

The cost is not just international ranking.

• It is domestic trust.
• It is investor confidence.
• It is the morale of honest public officers.
• It is the signal sent to the next generation that integrity is optional if you are politically protected.

That erosion does not show up in one headline.

It accumulates.

Conclusion: Decorative Laws, Optional Accountability

Belize does not suffer from a shortage of anti-corruption statutes.

Belize suffers from a shortage of political will.

Belize is not sinking because we lack laws.

Belize is sinking because this administration has mastered how to keep laws decorative and accountability optional.

The CPI score is not an insult from abroad.

It is a mirror.

And unless enforcement becomes real — not rhetorical — Belize will continue to slide, not because corruption is inevitable, but because it has been rendered manageable for those in power.