Jim McAfee, of that McAfee, lives in Belize and has become the victim of their national “Gang Suppression Unit.” Technically, those who put him in custody were arms of the state working to preserve the safety of their citizens, though one has to wonder who was terrorizing who this week…
In his own words, McAfee says: “On Monday at six o’clock, I was awakened by the sound of a bullhorn, a megaphone. I went outside and saw about thirty GSU in full uniform, full dressed, automatic weapons, storming through the property and drive way. I went back inside, got some clothes on, I came out. I was told to put up my hands up against the wall as was eleven other people on the compound. We had about eleven people present at the time—five of them were women. I was told that they had a warrant to search property. They began, with sledge hammers, to break the doors of the buildings—none of them were locked, but they just went and broke them in any case. I was merely watching this. They confiscated my passport, all of the weapons we used for security on the compound, handcuffed me and everyone and for fourteen hours outside in the sun, I sat handcuffed without food or water….
They murdered my dog in cold blood. That was the thing I think—it was a warning to us that this is serious; don’t mess with us. They threw things around, they stole things—it was unbelievable, unimaginable for a country that was supposedly a democratic country. I was arrested on a bogus charge of having an illegal firearm—a firearm without a license. At the very beginning of the day, one of the GSU soldiers, one of the GSU officers, took all of my firearm licenses and put them in his vest. When he took them out to check the firearms, this one was missing. They charged me for having a firearm without a license; took me to Belize City. Fortunately we had copies. We showed up later at the police station with the copies. Even then it was difficult to get out. I had to get the intervention of the American embassy to get released.”
McAfee goes on to discuss his apolitical stance and general peacefulness. He seems to be a model citizen but, unfortunately, it’s hard to get the press to sympathize with wealthy individuals targeted by the state (see also: Mikhail Khodorkovsky).
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Some of these countries have no idea of democracy. We are fast becoming like them because our government officials, including our representatives, and many of us, We, the People, have no idea of or disdain our Constitution
BesIdes, MacAfee ought to stay off the mainland and stick with the island. Sure, some corruption, but at least democracy is ingrained in the English-speaking Caribbean, thanks to the Brits.
Um, Belize is part of the English-speaking Caribbean.
There is a difference, you know, between official language and the language in use. In Belize, English is official but Kriol is primarily in use. That’s not what is meant by English-speaking Caribbean.
Wow. And my daughter and I were just watching “International House Hunters” about an American family who made the move to Belize.
Scratch that country off the list!
LukeHandCool ( who is instantly reminded of the time he was studying landscape architecture in grad school. It was mostly design theory and large-scale planning. So Luke got a job for the summer with a landscape contractor because he wanted to get his hands dirty and learn some nuts and bolts of residential landscaping with his newfound illegal immigrant buddies. The first job was at the huge house at the end of the street where Luke lived as a boy. It was the house where the singing family, The Cowsills, had lived when they moved to L.A. I was telling all my coworkers stories of growing up on this beautiful street among celebrities and how I had listened to the Cowsills rehearsing in the garage. Then the contractor said, “Well it’s Mr. Norton’s place now.” I asked, “Mr. Norton?” He replied, “Yeah, Mr. Norton of Norton anti-virus.”)
Might I suggest to Mr. Macafee that he simply move somewhere else. As bad as the US has gotten it’s not that bad. That’s partially why it’s hard to feel sympathetic to him IMHO.
Even PR (with it’s rampent poverty) probably wouldn’t be aweful if you can afford to buy a compound with security.)
So you think it’s hard to feel sympathetic to him? Maybe you find it hard, because you’re a socialist monster. Any decent person finds it easy to sympathise with him.
It is the world of the left. They really are not against the wealthy – just the wealthy that refuse to pay tribute…
Walked through what was supposed to be a “safe” section of Belize City a few years ago. My skin crawled the entire time. IMO, Belize is a hell hole that I will never return to.
McAfee is an interesting and unusual character but there’s some background to why he’s living in Belize. It seems he moved there to protect his assets from lawsuits. His gifts to police where more like bribes necessary in third world countries. He doesn’t seem like much of a do-gooder but more of a huckster.
An interesting read:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/145/fantasy-island.html
Thanks for the link. It’s easy to assume that victims are virtuous just because they are victims. No need to say that this tendency has been massively exploited by the Left.
What exactly is your objection to any of the above? Why would any of that make you less likely to sympathise with him?
Why anyone visits these banana republics is beyond me. But to Obama and his lackeys, this is paradise and we should become like them. If this is the type of country that you want to live in, just go there.
There is no place to run to. We are all at The Alamo now.
We may as well make our last stand in America. It has been a refuge for so many with very good reason. This is not a Democracy and it should never become one. Neither a tyranny of a minority nor a majority is desirable.
Here’s another (longish) article. It doesn’t address why his compound was raided, though supposing he hadn’t paid enough in bribery is reasonable. He’s a character who seems to have pinballed all over the place.
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/145/fantasy-island.html
He says himself that it was because he refused to donate to a politician.
Oops. Went hunting for additional info & just now realized it had already been linked by GrannyJan..ack.