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That was the best compromise the Prime Minister was prepared to offer and today he added that he is willing to go to Orange Walk to meet – but the farmers must clear the highways.

Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
“I am prepared to go to Orange Walk tomorrow. I am prepared to have a meeting with farmers and with BSI in Orange Walk tomorrow but they will call off this blocking of the roads and we will meet in a neutral place in Orange Walk. Those are the only preconditions. If I can hear from them by 4 o’clock that they are prepared to do this, and they actually proceed in that fashion, then we’re on for tomorrow. If I don’t hear from them by four o’clock then the security forces of this country will do what they need to do to clear the roads and to ensure that innocent law abiding citizens can go about their business.

So if I could summarize ladies and gentlemen, there is no problem with negotiation on my side and BSI has assured me that the same is true for them. But I will not negotiate in the context of a mob scene. Secondly, in terms of the issue that has provoked all this, I am open to what the farmers have to say. BSI assures me that it is open to continue dialogue. Finally, while the security forces will be asked to exercise every restraint, the people in this country need to know that law and order will prevail and the farmers need to respect the rights of others. We have exercised a great deal of restraint so far, they have every right to advocate their cause but they must do so in a way that will see them staying in the bounds of the law and that will see them respect the rights of other citizens of this country.

I appeal to them again: let us sit and try to talk this thing through but we cannot do so in the context of what is currently occurring; the tire burning, the bridge blocking, the denial of passage to innocent citizens. Please, for the sake of continued order in this country, call it off by four this afternoon and let us meet first thing tomorrow morning. If that appeal falls on deaf ears, I say again the security forces of this country will do what they have to do.”

Senior Superintendent Crispin Jeffries went to give the farmers their warning at 3:00 pm, but by that time, the mood was so pitched that the farmers took that as a caution to go get armed and organized to make a pre-emptive strike – and what unfolded after has amounted to one of the saddest and most violent days in Belize’s history. As we said our team of Keith Swift and Alex Ellis were trapped on the road until late this evening as police refused to let anybody pass because they are clearing the highway. As soon as they come back, we’ll let you see the images they have gathered.