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Maya Leaders Alliance issues statement on Santa Cruz incident

By on June 22, 2015
Rupert Myles detained

Rupert Myles detained

Punta Gorda town, Belize. Monday, June 22, 2015. The Punta Gorda-based The Maya Leaders Alliance has issued a statement on the situation in Santa Cruz village regarding the attempted eviction and detention of Rupert Myles on Saturday.

The MLA statement starts by explaining that “Santa Cruz villagers, the Village Chairman and Alcalde enforced their decision to protect Uxbenka Maya sacred site.”

Mr. Myles had been previously issued with letters by the village leaders, requesting that he remove his house from the area he now occupies, requests which he had ignored.

The MLA statement goes on to explain that “since late 2014, Mr. Myles has been building a structure on the archeological site without the consent of Santa Cruz village” and that a decision was taken last December at a village meeting that Mr. Myles’ actions to build within the village, especially on a Maya sacred site, was illegal.”

MLA also says that Myles has “repeatedly ignored the requests and warnings of the community. Mr. Myles went even further and bulldozed a road to the sacred site and extended the structure.”

The detention and treatment of Mr. Myles on Saturday morning and his handcuffing was also addressed in the MLA statement.

It says that during the traditional Fajina “he stormed to the front of the room and slammed his hands on the head table,” and that Myles ignored the rules of the meeting.

“At that time, Mr. Myles said he had a firearm outside in a vehicle and challenged the villagers. As he approached a parked vehicle, owned by Joseph Estefan who was present at the time, the Alcalde ordered his village police to restrain Mr. Myles,” the MLA statement said.

The MLA statement says that Myles “fought off the village police” and that with the support of other villagers they were able to “restrain Mr. Myles and handcuff him.”

Rupert Myles was not arrested, according to the MLA statement, “because he agreed in writing to remove the structures and his belongings within two weeks.”

The MLA statement ends by saying that “according to Maya customary law, all persons, Maya and non-Maya, must comply with the Village rules. The Village Meeting is the fundamental and primary authority for making decisions such as whether or not to accept new residents. Mr. Myles has been repeatedly warned to stop his blatant disregard for village rules. Maya people have lived and worked with many non-Mayas and recognize and appreciate their contributions in the villages. Maya customary law is part of Belizean law and exists to protect our communities.”

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