Belize governments continue to practice monopolies and exclusion of wider private enterprises.

On 4/13/2011 4:23 PM, Lan Sluder wrote:
> Ambergris Brewing says that after receiving clearance from the Bureau of Standards and Department of the Environment for a microbrew/brewpub operation in San Pedro it has now been denied a permit by Belize Customs. The reason given: It would "open the floodgates on similar and other unique business ventures."
>
> Belize certainly doesn't need any more unique business ventures, does it?
the spirit of Barry Bowen lives on!!!
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ONE OF THE RECURRING COMPLAINTS IN BELIZE, ARE THE EXCLUSION OF COMPETITIVE ENTREPRENEURIAL COMPETITION IN BUSINESS. These are done through monopolies or the manipulation of the permiting process through the use of different government departments. POLITICS like in the 1870 and 1890 period durig the infamous era of the ROBBER BARONS, with the GOULDS, the Vanderbilts, the ASTORS, and other infamous persons of that early era in the USA industrial development, was based on bribery, party donations to individual politicians, or high civil servants, or the party campaign chests. Elections were often bought and sold. This resulted in cyclical market and bank failures, economic depressions and recessions, in which the TREASURY REVENUES were plundered to build railroads owned by Robber Barons paid for by tax dollars, or to rescue favorite banks in the USA history. It also concentrated wealth into the hands of a smaller and smaller percentage of the overall population. It resulted in the establishment of a huge below poverty class and an increase of crime. This early history of the USA industrial era of the late 1800´s is now being experienced over the last forty years in the nation of small Belize as we also grow and the ties between industry and politicians corrupt the process of building a wealthy middle class nation.
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P.S. There is an excellent autobiographical fiction novel, written by Clay Pendleton, a reporter for the Hearst newspapers at the time of the CUBAN INVASION, covering the period from the end of the US Civil War to the early 1900´s. The written manuscript was written by Clay and his wife Genevieve who are live characters in this novel. Clay died in 1915 and Genevieve died in 1925. They were participants during most of this era. The manuscript was locked in the vault at Bowood along with other historical papers of the Stapleton family. Since it involved past USA Presidents still then alive, Civil War generals, the many Robber Baron speculators, like Jay Gould who became the biggest speculator billionaire of the late 1800´s, the manuscript was not presented until 1985, after all participants and their immediate descendants were dead. The title is THE SPOILS OF WAR, authored by Thomas Fleming.
For any student in Belize wanting to understand the development of fragile small Belize as a nation, this is a MUST read, to teach you about two party politics, idealism, patriotism in an unfettered capitalist society without rules, such as Belize is today. We are literally living through the same political and social changes experienced in this novel and reading it will blow your mind, on how they have come about and where we are going as a nation. Will the knowledge help in our future? Unlikely! GREED overcomes all things as it did then in the early USA and as it is doing now in Belize.
The novel is available at the Santa Elena Public Library in the Cayo District in paperback called THE SPOILS OF WAR.