By: Omar Silva – Editor/Publisher

National Perspective Belize – Digital 2026

www.nationalperspectivebz.com

Belize City: Friday 24th  January 2026

Editorial

Belize today is not merely vulnerable.

Belize is exposed.

Exposed by decades of intellectual laziness in governance.

Exposed by a political class addicted to dependency.

Exposed by a currency system chained to a foreign power whose dominance is visibly weakening.

The world is changing. Rapidly. Dangerously. Irreversibly.

And Belize is still behaving as though the 1990s never ended.

The Illusion of Safety Is Collapsing

For generations, Belize has been conditioned to believe that alignment with the United States guarantees stability, protection, and prosperity. That belief is now unraveling before our eyes.

The U.S. dollar — once unquestionable — is under growing global pressure. Major economies are openly diversifying away from dollar dependence. Regional blocs are exploring alternative trade currencies. Confidence in American economic discipline is eroding.

Even in our own region, we are witnessing signals: the Mexican peso strengthening while the U.S. dollar weakens. These are not coincidences. These are tremors.

And tremors always come before the earthquake.

The Peg That Can Break the Nation

Belize’s currency is rigidly pegged 2 Belize dollars to 1 U.S. dollar. For years, this has been treated as sacred, unquestionable, untouchable.

But what happens when the foundation weakens?

A dollar peg only protects you when the anchor is strong.

When the anchor weakens, it drags you down with it.

If the U.S. dollar continues its long-term decline:

• Belize’s import costs will rise
• Inflation will accelerate
• Foreign reserves will come under pressure
• The cost of debt servicing will grow
• Economic vulnerability will deepen

And who will suffer?

• Not Cabinet.
• Not political financiers.
• Not the elite.

• It will be the working Belizean family.
• The farmer.
• The teacher.
• The market vendor.
• The young graduate.
• The pensioner.

Always the people.

A Political Class Unprepared for Reality

The greatest danger Belize faces is not external.

It is internal.

Our political leadership lacks the intellectual seriousness to even discuss these risks honestly. They continue operating with colonial-era assumptions:

• That foreign protection equals national security.
• That dependency equals stability.
• That silence equals diplomacy.

This is not leadership. This is cowardice dressed in protocol.

A multipolar world requires strategic thinking, not blind loyalty. It requires economic foresight, not budget theatrics. It requires national dignity, not quiet submission.

Belize has none of these at the top.

Dependency Has a Price — And the Bill Is Coming Due

• We cannot tie our national identity systems to foreign powers.
• We cannot anchor our economy to a declining monetary empire.
• We cannot surrender sovereignty while pretending we are safe.

A nation that refuses to prepare for systemic change does not remain neutral.

It becomes collateral.

If Belize does not urgently:

• Re-examine its monetary vulnerability
• Diversify trade and strategic partnerships
• Strengthen domestic production
• Build real economic independence
• Develop sovereign policy thinking

Then the next global economic shock will not merely hurt Belize.

It will break Belize.

The Hard Truth

• The world is no longer unipolar.
• The U.S. is no longer unchallenged.
• The dollar is no longer invincible.

And Belize is no longer safe pretending otherwise.

History punishes small nations that fail to read global shifts.

It rewards those who wake up early.

The tragedy is this:

Belize still has time.

But Belize does not yet have leadership.