By Omar Silva, Editor-Publisher

National Perspective BZ – DIGITAL 2025

www.nationalperspectivebz.com

Belize City: Saturday 12th April 2025  

🗞️ EDITORIAL |

As Trump’s tariff tsunami threatens to slam into the global economy, the Government of Belize continues to cling to silence — as if quiet diplomacy and soft smiles can outmaneuver a geopolitical earthquake. But Belizeans aren’t blind. They see the writing on the wall, even if the Briceño administration pretends the wall doesn’t exist.

The U.S.’s move to apply a universal import tariff will not just squeeze China, Europe, or Mexico — it will crush import-dependent nations like Belize, who are shackled to a fixed exchange rate, buried under foreign debt, and reliant on aid flows now frozen in Washington’s waiting room.

The Briceño Government Has No Cushion, Just Excuses

The Briceño administration has lost momentum — and perhaps its moral compass. It has failed to wean Belize off external dependencies, even as over 40 aid-supported projects now sit frozen. The US$125 million MCC grant that was supposed to transform education and energy reform? On hold. The rhetoric of "Plan Belize"? Reduced to digital dust.

The government offers no counterstrategy — no plan to shield Belizeans from inflation, no ramp-up in food production, no investment in light manufacturing, and no concrete trade realignment with neighbors like Mexico or Guatemala.

And let’s be brutally honest: even if Trump doesn't win, the cracks are already here. The inflation, the shortages, the rising energy bills — they’ve been battering Belizean families since 2020. The tariff is not the storm. It’s the final gust that topples an already weakened roof.

Belizeans Are Trapped in a Currency Cage

While other countries can devalue their currencies or inject monetary relief, Belize has no such option. The 2:1 peg to the U.S. dollar acts as a cage — making U.S.-triggered inflation our inflation.

Worse, because we lack domestic production, we import not just goods, but inflation itself — along with freight costs, customs markups, and distributor profiteering.

How can Belize continue this way? How can a country so rich in land, sea, and youth still be a net importer of corn, rice, beans, eggs, and oil? The fault isn’t in our stars — it’s in our policies, our politicians, and our passivity.

A Time to Pivot, A Time to Prepare

What Belize needs is not more press conferences or borrowed slogans. It needs national mobilization.

Local food production must be declared a national emergency priority.

A fuel import agreement with Mexico must be actively pursued.

An industrialization master plan must be launched immediately to create jobs and reduce import dependency.

And Belizeans must be told the truth — that unless we transform now, we will continue to live at the mercy of global shocks we cannot control.

This Government Won’t Admit It’s Failing — But The People Know

Belizeans are resilient. They have survived hurricanes, pandemics, and political betrayal. But they should not be forced to survive poor governance — not in 2025, not after 43 years of independence, and certainly not under a government that came to power promising transformation but delivered band-aids for bullet wounds.

If the Briceño government won’t admit that the economic house is on fire, then it is the job of the people to sound the alarm.

Because what comes next — is not just inflation. It’s collapse.