Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Belize gained full independence from Great Britain in 1981, but only after a struggle that lasted nearly a half-century. When the English settled Belize (officially called British Honduras until 1973) the colonial government created a socio-economic structure that assured lumber companies a cheap source of labor. The Belize Estate and Produce Company (BEC), for instance, was granted ownership to about one-third of the colony's territory and refused to lease or sell any of its land for agricultural use. This meant that most men had little choice but to work for extremely low wages as loggers for the BEC. Salaries ranged from about $12 to $15 per month throughout the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth. Furthermore, through a variety of unjust company practices that robbed workers of the little they made, most were forced into constant debt and therefore obligated to perpetually work for the logging company. Loggers who attempted to leave their jobs before fulfilling the terms of their contracts or before paying off their debts were subject to imprisonment. The Great Depression, coupled with a devastating hurricane in 1931, only made the plight of Belizean workers and their families worse. Less global demand for Belizean lumber and other products meant large-scale unemployment, which in turn brought many to the verge of starvation. In 1934 a group of almost 18,000 desperate ... log in or subscribe to read full text