By Omar Silva – Editor/Publisher

National Perspective Belize I Digital 2026

www.nationalperspectivebz.com

Belize City: Thursday 29th January 2026

On January 28, 2026, the Government of Belize issued yet another polished press release announcing that it is “advancing the development” of its Medium-Term Development Strategy (MTDS) 2026–2030 under the optimistic theme, “We are on track, Vamos Bien.”

At face value, it sounds reassuring. But beneath the carefully crafted language lies a deeper and more troubling reality: Belizeans are not witnessing progress — they are witnessing the recycling of promises, the repackaging of plans, and the continuation of governance by optics rather than outcomes.

This is not development.

This is political theatre disguised as policy.

A Meeting About Another Plan — Not Development

Let us begin with the most revealing detail:

The press release does not announce a single achievement.

Not one.

Instead, it celebrates a meeting about developing another document about development.

This is bureaucratic misdirection. Belizeans are being invited to applaud process while remaining disconnected from results. The headline claims advancement, but the substance reveals only internal coordination among ministers, CEOs, and political appointees.

• Development is not measured by how many committees meet.
• Development is measured by how many lives materially improve.

“We Are on Track” — According to What Evidence?

The slogan “We are on track, Vamos Bien” is presented without any supporting data.

1. No indicators.
2. No benchmarks.
3. No performance report.

Where are the figures on:

• Unemployment trends since 2020?
• Poverty reduction statistics?
• Affordable housing units completed?
• Land distribution reforms implemented?
• Healthcare system improvements delivered?
• Education performance gains measured?

A government serious about transparency would publish an evaluation of the previous MTDS (2022–2026). Instead, Belizeans are offered a slogan.

• Slogans do not feed families.
• Slogans do not shorten hospital wait times.
• Slogans do not create jobs.

“Lessons Learned” — But from What Failures?

The release claims that the new strategy integrates “lessons learned” from MTDS 2022–2026. But the public has never been presented with:

• A performance audit
• A public evaluation report
• A list of failed targets
• An explanation of what went wrong
• Accountability for missed goals

You cannot learn lessons from failures you refuse to acknowledge.

This is not reflective governance.

This is strategic amnesia.

The Six “Fundamental Rights”: Beautiful Words, Chronic Failure

The six pillars outlined in the new MTDS include:

• Education
• Healthcare
• Employment
• Land access
• Housing
• Productivity

These are not visionary breakthroughs.

These are basic social expectations Belizeans have been promised for decades.

The uncomfortable truth is this:

If these were truly priorities, Belize would already look different after five years of PUP governance.

1. Where is the national housing transformation?
2. Where is the health system modernization?
3. Where is the structural employment strategy?
4. Where is the national land reform framework?

What Belizeans see instead is:

• Rising cost of living
• Overburdened hospitals
• Underpaid workers
• Housing still unaffordable
• Youth still migrating
• Small businesses still struggling

Plans exist. Outcomes do not.

Closed-Door Planning Masquerading as “Consultation”

The government claims “broad stakeholder consultation.”

But the press release only names insiders:

• Ministers
• CEOs
• Political advisors
• Financial officials

Absent are:

• Teachers’ unions
• Nurses’ associations
• Farmers’ groups
• Small business coalitions
• Youth organizations
• Independent civil society
• Community leaders
• Labor unions

A development strategy crafted primarily among political elites is not national planning. It is elite consensus-building, detached from lived reality.

• Belize does not suffer from lack of documents.
• Belize suffers from exclusion of its people from genuine policy formation.

The Political Timing Is Not Accidental

The government plans to finalize and launch this MTDS by April 2026 — precisely when electoral narratives begin to crystallize.

This allows:

• Glossy brochures
• Campaign speeches
• International donor presentations
• Carefully choreographed press events

The strategy becomes less about national transformation and more about political branding for the next election cycle.

Belizeans have seen this before.

• New plan.
• New logo.
• New slogan.
• Same lived conditions.

The Pattern Belize Must Confront

• Plan Belize 1.0
• Plan Belize 2.0
• MTDS 2022–2026
• MTDS 2026–2030

Different titles. Same structure. Same failure to deliver.

This pattern reflects not a lack of intelligence within government, but a lack of political will to challenge the entrenched system that benefits a small economic and political class while the majority remains trapped in economic vulnerability.

• Belize is not underdeveloped due to lack of plans.
• Belize remains underdeveloped because the system is designed to manage poverty, not eliminate it.

A Question Belizeans Must Now Ask

Not:

“How many strategies has government produced?”

But:

“How much better is my life since 2020?”

If the answer is “not much,” then the problem is not communication.

The problem is governance.

Conclusion: The Illusion of Motion

This press release represents movement without momentum.

Activity without accountability.

Language without impact.

Belize does not need another strategy document.

Belize needs:

• Measurable outcomes
• Transparent reporting
• Independent oversight
• Public accountability
• Structural economic reform
• Political courage

Until then, every new plan will remain what too many before it have been:

A well-written promise, carefully timed, and quietly abandoned.