British Honduras: Promise of Self-Government

BRITISH HONDURAS

Back when the U.N. first began making small nations feel big, Guatemala’s Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s barged in on then British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin. British Honduras, proclaimed the ambassador, belonged to neighboring Guatemala and must be handed over instantly. Bevin heard the fellow out, then leaned over, tapped him on the knee, and cut him down to size with a single question: “What did you say you called your country?”

Bevin’s one-upmanship won that round, but the Guatemalans have never given up. Little does it matter to them that Guatemala never once held the swampy, New Hampshire-sized territory east of its border (see map)—or that in 1859 it signed a boundary treaty recognizing British sovereignty. The treaty is invalid, argues Guatemala, because Britain reneged on a promise to build a road across the frontier. The road, says Britain, was supposed to be a joint project. British Hondurans, all 90,000 of them, want no part of annexation by Guatemala; they speak English, are predominantly Negro, and have few ties with their Spanish-speaking and largely Indian neighbors.

What they do want is more self-government. For the British, though, the territory is a familiar case of a small, impoverished colony longing to rule itself, yet unable to make ends meet. It has little to live on but cut-over mahogany forests, a few rice fields, and sugar cane and grapefruit plantations. In the tin-roofed capital of Belize, there are still no underground sewers or running water. British handouts take care of chronic trade deficits and keep the economy from collapse. But a fortnight ago, Britain was ready to grant British Honduras what so many other colonies have already been given. Self-government, it was announced, will begin next January under prickly but reliable First Minister George Price, 44, whose party has held all elective seats in the legislature since 1957.

Colonel Enrique Peralta Azurdia, the head of Guatemala’s junta, called Britain’s promise of self-rule “a flagrant violation of the sovereign rights of Guatemala.” He broke off diplomatic relations with Great Britain, and an editorial in Guatemala City’s La Hora spoke grandly of war: “We haven’t fought a war for half a century. The English always have been good soldiers, but that doesn’t mean they are any more masculine than we are.” Unrattled, the British last week went blithely ahead with self-government plans for British Honduras.