By Gary Wockner (@garywockner)
Andres Coy’s face is lined, his skin the color of the muddy Temash River we just crossed. “There’s no money that can fix the river—you can’t buy back the river.” He says it with the authority he carries as the Mayan spiritual leader, the “Alcalde,” in this Belizean village.
Like everywhere on the planet, the price of oil has plunged here in Belize, and the oil company has stopped exploring and drilling…for now. The Mayan people of Belize are not necessarily saying “no” to oil drilling, but they want to be consulted in the decision. If nothing else, they want five percent of price of the oil produced from their lands. They are wrestling with this conundrum of pollution and money and oil.