Latin America: Britain by the Bay

On most maps, the name is British Honduras (capital: Belize). Latin American cartographers call it Belice, territorio en disputa. In its hazy history it has been the haunt first of pirates preying on the Spanish Main, later of rumrunners, sometimes of German submarines. On the swampy, 17 4-mile shore live 63,000 Negroes and Indians, a handful of whites. Back of the capital, greasy rivers reach under forests of cedar, mahogany and chicle-bearing sapodilla to Peten, wildest part of Guatemala.

Soon, at London’s request, the new International Court of Justice will review Guatemala’s old claim that British Honduras is hers. Most citizens do not like the idea. Said one Edgar Gilbert Napier Gegg, a storekeeper: “In the momentous year of 1798 the question was settled decisively by the Battle of St. George’s Cay” (in which a British flotilla defeated a Spanish squadron, assured British control of the coast). To show where they stood, the settlement’s Loyal and Patriotic Order of Baymen revived last week the anniversary of the battle (which Guatemalans say never even occurred), celebrated it with speeches, horse racing, parading.

Forever England. Belize is still British. Its traffic—bicycles, pushcarts, pedestrians and one or two right-hand-drive cars —bear Britannically left. In vacant lots small black boys play cricket. Inhabitants speak English with a very broad A. The British themselves do their best to carry on with the old precept of the “home away from home.” After golf or tennis, they stop in at the club—the Polo (men only) or the Pickwick. The Polo provides two tables for volunteer snooker, a tattered copy of Punch, and a few low easy chairs in which members can order a whiskey-&-splash, and rehearse the good old days of rumrunning. The younger set prefer the Pickwick, for its jukebox.

It has been a long time since the British made money on this crown colony. But to Guatemalans British Honduras is important as an outlet for the jungle riches of Peten. Besides, the Guatemalans have a good juridical case for claiming the colony, and the whole business has now become a matter of national pride. Said one British official: “We bloody well ought to let them have it; it would serve them right.” That might be the official view, but if it came to a vote most Beliceños would probably stay British.