BELIZE AND BELICE... DOES IT REALLY MATTER?

BEFORE IT SLIPS ME AND I GET CARRIED AWAY INTO MY HEALTH PAGE, I NEED TO ADDRESS A TOPIC THAT SEEMS WILL NEVER GO AWAY. BELIZE OR BELICE!!!! WITH SO MANY COUNTRIES HAVING THEIR NAMES TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH OR SPANISH, I WONDER WHAT THE REAL ISSUE IS. ESPANA IS CALLED SPAIN BY BELIZEANS AND EVERYONE IN THE ENGLISH SPEAKING WORLD. MÉXICO IS CALLED MEXICO BY BELIZEANS AND EVERYONE IN THE ENGLISH SPEAKING WORLD. MAUVIN DID WONDERFUL TO LIST EVEN MORE: "Some may be exact cognates: Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua. There are those that have a slight orthographic difference in Spanish: Canada/Canadá, Mexico/México, Panama/Panamá. And those with a small letter or complete change in writing: Germany/Alemania/Deutschland; Brasil/Brazil; Inglaterra/England." I SAY TOMATO YOU SAY TOMATO ( WITH THE ENGLISH ACCENT, PLEASE). I WONDER IF THE PEOPLE IN THE CAYO DISTRICT WHO SPEAK SPANISH WITH A VERY STRONG ACCENT ( LIKE THEIR NEIGHBOURS ACROSS THE BORDER... NO OFFENSE MEANT) SAY BELIZE OR BELICE WHEN THEY TALK ABOUT THEIR COUNTRY? EVERY TIME BELIZE IS SPOKEN OF IN THE NEWS ON SOME FOREIGN COUNTRY THAT USES SPANISH AS THEIR FIRST LANGUAGE, THEY REFER TO BELIZE AS BELICE. THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR AGES. I THINK WE NEED TO STOP WORRYING ABOUT TRANSLATIONS. YOU SAY BELIZE AND LOVE BELIZE AND WORRY ABOUT BELIZE. SO, FOCUS ON THE ISSUES IN BELIZE THAT IS TAKING IT DOWN INTO THE SLUMS. WORRY ABOUT THE POVERTY, THE CRIME LEVEL, THE EDUCATION SYSTEM, THE POLITICAL TRANSPARENCIES (THEY ARE STEALING YOU BLIND) AND WORRY ABOUT HOW YOU CAN MAKE A CHANGE TO BELIZE. IF YOU WANT THE WORLD TO STOP USING BELICE WHEN THEY REFER TO BELIZE THEN FOR THE LOVE OF BELIZE, TAKE THIS HOGWASH TO YOUR GOVERNMENT AND LET THEM PASS A RULING THAT THEY WILL SEND OUT TO THE WORLD SAYNG... DO NOT CALL US BELICE WE ARE BELIZE. THAT, MY DEARS, IS THE ONLY WAY IT WILL BE DONE! AND AS FOR THE GUATEMALANS CLAIMING BELICE AS THEIR. WE ALL KNOW THAT IS NOTHING NEW. IT WAS OBVIOUS IN THE 1960s, THE 1970s, AND THE 1980s... and it is obvious NOW! SO, HOW MANY OF YOU WILL TAKE ARMS AND DEFEND THIS LAND, NOT JUST A NAME? I TOOK THAT SURVEY MANY YEARS AGO ON A SEPTEMBER DAY WHEN I WAS TEACHING A SECOND FORM IN COROZAL. YES, I ASKED THAT SAME QUESTION THAT YEAR TO EVERY LEVEL OF HIGH SCHOOL I TAUGHT. I BET THE ANSWER WOULD BE THE SAME TODAY. "WE WOULD DO TO MEXICO BECAUSE THEY USE TO OWN COROZAL ALL THE WAY TO THE SWING BRIDGE IN BELIZE CITY AT ONE TIME SO WE WOULD BE PROTECTED!" LOL SO... A MI ME IMPORTA UN C*** SI DICEN BELIZE O BELICE. LO QUE SI ME IMPORTA ES QUE ES LO QUE VAMOS A HACER POR EL PAIS! I GIVE A RAT'S A** IF THEY SAY BELIZE OR BELICE. WHAT I CARE ABOUT IS WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO FOR THE COUNTRY! NOW, KINDLY FORGIVE MY SPANISH, YOU SEE, I AM JUST BILINGUAL LIKE THAT! YEA, WE BOAST WE ARE A BILINGUAL COUNTRY. A LOT OF US ARE EVEN MORE SO BECAUSE WE MAY HAVE BEEN BORN IN MEXICO OR OUR GRANDPARENTS OR PARENTS WERE. OR MAYBE THEY CAME FROM GUALTEMALA, SAN SALVADOR, HONDURAS OR EVEN CUBA. (OHH THERE IS ANOTHER ONE. WE SAY CUBA BUT THE CUBANS SAY IT WITH A SPANISH ACCENT, DON'T THEY?) WE GET TO CHOOSE WHERE WE WANT TO LIVE WHEN WE HAVE THE MEANS TO SUPPORT OURSELVES. BE IT BELIZE, MEXICO OR THE USA OR ANYWHERE ELSE. WE GET TO THINK EVERY DAY ABOUT BELIZE, OF WE WANT TO. I KNOW I DO. I STILL HAVE A DREAM THAT I PRAY ON EVERY DAY. IT IS MY DREAM FOR A BETTER COROZAL BECAUSE I KNOW SHE HAS SO MUCH TO GIVE AND SO MUCH IS NEEDED FOR OUR VERY YOUNG AND OUR VERY OLD. IF IT IS GOD'S WILL, IT WILL HAPPEN AND THAT WILL BE MY CONTRIBUTION. I THINK WE HAVE TO SEE WHAT WE CAN DO FOR OUR COUNTRY. THAT SHOULD BE NUMBER ONE ON OUR AGENDA EVERY DAY. SO LET THE POLIITICIANS SORT OUT THE DARN NAME TRANSLATION THING. YOU KNOW YOU LIVE IN "BELIZE". A TRANSLATION WILL NOT KILL YOU. IT WILL NOT MAKE YOUR COUNTRY ANY LESS. YOU CAN DO THAT ALL BY YOURSELF IF YOU DO NOT DREAM! AND JUST SO YOU KNOW... YES, I AM COMING BACK. MY VOICE WILL BE HEARD. YOU CAN BE WITH ME OR AGAINST ME. EITHER WAY, I AM COMING BACK!!!! BRENDA A. YSAGUIRRE