The Royal visit by Prince William and Kate generated national attention and discussion this weekend - and we'll have all that for you tonight, but our coverage begins with the controversy which marred the first stop on the Royals' Caribbean Tour. That was our headline story on Friday where Indian Creek Villagers launched a protest against the Royals using their football field as a landing site to tour the Maquin cacao farm in that area.
That protest made Saturday morning headlines in all the major British newspapers and on BBC AND SKY TV News. And the Indian Creek kerfuffle ultimately led to a ruffling of the royal feathers - forcing the cancellation of the first major stop on the royal tour, which would have been at the Maquin family's Akte'il Ha Cacao Farm - staged to highlight Prince William's patronage of Flora and Fauna International.
It was a significant public flashpoint in the ongoing struggle over the definition of communal land rights - and one that caught world attention. But lost in the conflict and the scatter of headlines was the Maquin family - which had been preparing for weeks to immerse the Royal's in traditional chocolate making done on a totally organic, sustainable farm.
And yesterday after the festivities in Hopkins, 7News got word of a counter protest in Indian Creek, one that supported the Maquin's and begged the Duke and Duchess to reconsider their visit.
Tonight we bring you a look at the Cacao Farm that William and Kate never got to see.
This little beauty was supposed to meet a princess yesterday, when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were scheduled to visit her family's farm. but that promised visit never happened.
Pablo Maquin, Owner
"I feel sad and I am mad because I much appreciate the visiting of the Prince but at last minute it disappeared, from there I got mad, from there I got sad."
And that's owing to what happened in the village of Indian Creek on Friday.
But how does the much-discussed but as yet unseen Maquin patriarch feel about his family's missed opportunity?
Pablo Maquin, Owner
"I opened myself to the people and it was my idea for my community to request the prince for the future because like you said I am getting old and I will soon be thrown away ok, the aim that I had we need another school, we need a community center, we need health and clinic centers, we need electricity, we are totally forgotten."
"I was supposed to have an opportunity. I am not the leader, I am not the Alcalde but by this point I tried to show a good example to my community but at last I lost it."
The Maquin's say that they didn't approach our team on our previous visit to the village because they were busy preparing the farm for the royal visit but their eldest son adds that they would have been unwise to interfere in Friday's protest
Rehinalio Maquin, Chocolate Tour Guide
"If I would have gone there I probably would have been chased away, because the people who protested on that day they are some of the hot heads of the community."
And yesterday just after the Duke and Duchess visited a "contingency plan" Cacao farm, supporters of the Maquin family came together to express their displeasure with the actions of their community members, and what they feel are the guiding hands behind it all, which is the Toledo Alcaldes Association and Maya Leaders Association:
Jessica Ack, Villager
"Prince Harry came before you know he came to do his tour and then Prince William came to do the same thing so I don't know why people stopped him from coming here because of a land."
Pedro Choc, Villager
"A lot of villagers from Indian Creek came out earlier today to basically tell the nation of Belize that whatever happened in terms of the visit of Prince William to Indian Creek was not done in the best interest of the community."
"Just a handful of people made the decision for the community and I think a lot of our villagers are not in support of that and are in total disagreement hence they came to show their anger and to tell the rest of the country that indian Creek is not isolating itself."
And what do the farmers of this Cacao farm think of the village's dispute with FFI over communal land?
Rehinaldio Maquin, Chocolate Tour Guide
"I don't want people to think that we are the ones that are pushing for the land to be taken away from the people, no. I don't want that to be the big picture."
And while Prince William and his wife didn't make it down to Indian Creek, our news team joined the Maquin's supporters for a walkabout of the property where we got to see how they do chocolate the traditional way, without electricity to store it.
Rehinalio Maquin, Chocolate Tour Guide
"If you can ask my father We have built this farm with the sweat of our face."
"This is an eco tourism destination so the way we use our land is in a sustainable manner, we try to work as much with nature as possible and we do everything organic. So that is what we would have wanted to showcase to the prince."
"We are so sorry that that had to happen but we welcome everybody, every visitor, it doesn't matter how far you come from, where you've come from , what is your background if you are very important, very, we welcome everybody to this community and to this farm Ak te il ha Cacao farm."
As you saw in the story, there were placards specifically targeting Cristina Coc - alleging that she was behind Friday's protest. We asked her for a comment and she said, quote, "The protest in Indian Creek forms part of ongoing efforts by the village in defense of their lands against third party encroachments.…Their grievances and demands are not new. Yet, they remain chronically unresolved. Over a year ago, the village wrote FFI seeking answers. To date, they have received no response. Why then should anyone be surprised that a community would protest against the visit of someone helping the organization dispossessing them of their lands? You do not need to manipulate a people in struggle to act." End quote.
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