When the cost-of-living crisis gets too hot, the PUP blames the Chinese community—while failing to fix the very policies fuelling the crisis.

By: Omar Silva | Editor/Publisher

National Perspective Belize I Digital 2025                                        

www.nationalperspectivebz.com

Belize City: Wednesday 28th May 2025

With the cost of living spiraling out of control under the Briceno administration, Minister of Infrastructure Julius Espat found a scapegoat: Belize’s Chinese community.

In a shocking and divisive exchange during the House Budget Debate, Espat targeted Hon. Lee Mark Chang — the first Asian Belizean to serve as an elected Member of Parliament — accusing him, and by extension the Belize Chinese Association, of bearing responsibility for the sharp rise in grocery prices.

Espat, referencing Chang’s former role as president of the Chinese Association, suggested that he “encourage his colleagues” in the business sector to lower their profit margins. “You’re part of government too. Never forget that,” he declared, implying that Chang’s ethnicity somehow binds him to control prices in Chinese-owned businesses.

The remarks were inflammatory, discriminatory, and dangerously misplaced.

Racism in the House

Let’s be clear: Hon. Lee Mark Chang was not elected as an ethnic representative. He was elected by the people of Mesopotamia to serve all Belizeans — regardless of background. His duty is not to Chinese grocers, but to the electorate.

To demand that a parliamentarian shoulder blame for the pricing decisions of a specific ethnic business class is racist and classist, and it undermines the very principle of democratic representation.

Such rhetoric is not only unacceptable—it is dangerous.

By framing the cost-of-living crisis as a product of “Chinese profit margins,” Espat deflected from the government’s own failure to:

• Control inflation
• Reform import taxes
• Subsidize essential goods
• Support struggling households and small businesses

Worse still, Espat expanded his remarks to include “the Indian community,” broadening the ethnic blame game in a move that risks deepening racial divisions at a time when Belize needs unity and real leadership.

A Government of Excuses, Not Solutions

Since coming to power in November 2020, the PUP administration has failed to bring down the cost of living. Instead, they’ve presided over a regime of unchecked Customs duties, high fuel prices, unregulated rents, and skyrocketing grocery costs.

While Belizeans can’t afford onions or green peppers, the government boasts of hollow restructuring in the Supplies Control and Consumer Protection Units, all while leaving the import economy on autopilot.

Espat himself—tasked with infrastructure—has little to show for his budget. His flagship housing project has produced what amounts to “half-bedroom boxes” for single mothers, and highways require redoing after the first rains, with thin layers of bitumen cracking under minimal use.

Parliament Must Be a Place of Sobriety, Not Scapegoating

The question now being asked across Belize: Was Minister Espat sober during his statements? Or was this another example of reckless theatrics, where leadership takes a backseat to barstool bravado?

Parliament must demand better. Public service requires clarity, sobriety, and respect for all citizens—especially in national crises. What Belize witnessed in that exchange was none of the above.

Conclusion: We Must Reject Ethnic Blame and Demand Real Reform

The rising cost of living is a product of bad policy and weak governance, not ethnicity.

We must reject this scapegoating strategy for what it is: a cowardly diversion from responsibility, and a reckless attack on Belize’s multicultural harmony.

Instead of pointing fingers at Chinese or Indian communities, the government should:

• Lower import taxes on essential goods
• Subsidize basic food items and fuel
• Crack down on Customs profiteering
• Regulate rents and utilities
• Rebuild trust in governance by acting, not blaming

Because the real question Belizeans are asking is not who to blame, but who will lead.