The title of this article is inspired by the Amandala Editorial of Sunday, June 18, 2000, “The Espats and their Barrow/Finnegan agreement.”

Beginning on Monday, November 15, 1999 when then PUP Minister of National Security, Jorge Espat, being interviewed by a Channel 7 reporter on the “tension and rift” between himself and then PUP Minister of Housing, Dickie Bradley, referred to Amandala as “little minds,” a public war between Ministers Jorge and Mark Espat and the Amandala Editor/Publisher ensued. This weekly quarrel in the media lasted well into 2001 when Jorge Espat resigned from Cabinet.

During this two year war though, the Amandala Editor/Publisher provided the Belizean public with a most insightful, in-depth and so very accurate analysis of the personalities of the Espats, as well as the forces driving their ambitions. For those Belizeans with short memories therefore, this article will remind them who Mark Espat is and what is his agenda according to the Amandala Editor/Publisher.

The Sunday, November 21, 1999 Editorial of the Amandala said that Jorge Espat was the “leader of the local Hezbollah (The Party of God)” and that Mark Espat was “the younger member of Hezbollah.” The implications here are frightening.

Hezbollah is a militant arm of the liberation movement in Palestine. As the “Party of God,” they have convinced themselves of the righteousness of their cause and are prepared to lose their lives in that cause. They believe that they cannot fail as it is well recognized that an individual who is prepared to give his life for what he believes in is near unstoppable.

The Amandala Editor is therefore saying that in regards to politics, Mark Espat is self-righteous but a dangerously efficient operator who is committed to do whatever it takes to achieve his political ends. His political end is nothing less than ascending to the top of whatever political organization he is a part of by whatever means necessary, even if that requires destroying that organisation so that it could be rebuilt in his image and likeness.

Evidence of this commitment to family supremacy and attendant political shrewdness is found in this same Editorial as Jorge Espat is described as “a consummate politician and technocrat” who “knows what he is doing and where he intends to go.” The Amandala Editorial of Sunday, June 18, 2000, warned us that “the Espats are the most organized family in Belize. You cannot even move into any of their divisions to live without being noted and “‘dossiered’.” In this same issue of the Amandala, the Editor makes the point that “of course, sanctimonious Jorge is 100 percent committed to his younger sibling …” By Sunday, March 25, 2001, the Amandala Editor is convinced that “the Espat family is powerful, ambitious and expansionist.” In the July 22, 2001 Amandala Editorial, we are reminded that “the two Espats … always act in concert …” In this same Amandala edition, the Editor laments the reality that “the two Espats are, let’s face the fact, very powerful, too powerful for our comfort.”

While there is nothing inherently wrong with seeking leadership of any political party, as this is the surest way of ensuring that your concerns for the electorate are attended to, when this ambition becomes overwhelming it betrays the hidden vice of selfishness and the crippling disease of egomania.

Amandala at a very early stage correctly diagnosed this sickness in the Espats as in the Editorial of July 29, 2001, he notices that “the Espats are in power and appear to revel in it.” By Sunday, August 19, 2001, the Amandala Editor boldly asserts that “the Espats’ overweening ambition and their obsession with family has been exposed …”

The Amandala Editor/Publisher in the March 25, 2001 edition also correctly points out, that Mark Espat, like other persons so totally taken up with their own self-importance, do not take criticism lightly, “This is a family, especially Mark, which cannot stand criticism without going “ballistic”.

In this same Editorial, we are told that “The Espats are outstandingly successful politicians, but they become emotional and hypersensitive when they receive any kind of critical pressure.”

Finally, if anyone was thinking that these analyses from the Amandala Editor were fuelled by mere dislike for Mark Espat, we are instructed by the Amandala Publisher that there is a solid, scientific basis for this analysis, “The brother Ministers in ruling party respond to any opposition or perceived criticism with a ferocity which is almost blind in nature. This appears to be in line with their ancestral Middle East psyche, a psyche I understand well from going through Thomas L. Friedman’s excellent work - From Beirut to Jerusalem (Doubleday, New York, 1989).”

The Amandala Editor/Publisher winds up warning Mark Espat however that regardless of how formidable he may appear to be, he is a “Johnny-come-lately” (Amandala Editorial, Sunday, May 13, 2001) and Kremandala, because of its longevity and “its roots” among the common people will prevail.

In the Amandala Editorial of Sunday, November 21, 1999, Mark Espat is warned that “The question of whether our minds are little, will come back to haunt Hezbollah.” This was followed by the Amandala Editorial of Sunday, March 25, 2001 in which Mark Espat is warned again that he “should be careful, however, not to disrespect the intelligence of the Belizean people” as “You cannot feed the Belizean people any kind of simplistic or one-sided propaganda and expect to convince them of your righteousness.”

While it may be safe to conclude that Kremandala was successful in the two year war waged on Jorge Espat, who was driven from the political scene (Kremandala playing no small role), what are we to make of the ironic u-turn, the Mark Espat marriage (no pun intended) to the Kremandala establishment? Is this a case of if you can’t beat them, then you join them; or is it a continuation of the war in which Kremandala is taken over from the inside and subdued by a most skillful and Machiavellian politician, and Kremandala is then used to fight Mark Espat’s political battles. I tend to think that the empirical evidence supports the latter proposition, but this is another story for another time.

What does Mark Espat represent?

The Amandala Editor/Publisher in no uncertain terms made it quite clear that the Espats represents big business money interests as opposed to the interests of many poor Belizeans.

“Hezbollah has made himself the champion of the propertied classes, the oligarchy.” Amandala Editorial, Sunday, November 21, 1999.

“They represent conservative, big business (big church), law-and-order interests.” Amandala Editorial, Sunday, June 18, 2000.

“The Belizean oligarchy, that group of 20 to 25 families who control business, banking and industry, is solidly behind Jorge and Mark Espat who are also special favorites of the Jesuits at Landivar.”

“You see, then, that if the political system in Belize were different, the Espats would be in their own pro-oligarchy party, whereas Bradley and Hyde would probably be in pro-people party.”

“The unwillingness of Mark Espat, himself an accomplished basketball player, to support the entry of a franchise from his area, is one more indication of his opposition to Cordel Hyde … and Mark Espat, as a friend of the oligarchy, would have had absolutely no problem in arranging the necessary financing.”

“Money can penetrate a poor community to spread lies and create confusion.” Amandala Editorial, Sunday, December 3, 2000.

It is very interesting now to see Mark Espat using the Kremandala establishment to portray himself as some messiah to poor Belizeans. I believe Kremandala owes us as explanation as to Mark Espats’ miraculous conversion that now has everyone behind the zinc fence in a state of stupendous shock and an almost divine awe. What caused the sudden change of heart Mr. Editor/Publisher?

How does Mark Espat play the game?

It was perhaps the Amandala Editor/Publisher who first informed the Belizean public of the close working relationship of Mark Espat and the UDP. The Amandala Editor/Publisher uncovered the fact that Mark Espat appears committed to no particular political party; political parties are mere vehicles for him to achieve his ultimate goal of hurtling himself and his family to the head of the political and economic ship of state.

“For many months now, it has been evident that there is an agreement between the Espats, Minister of National Security Jorge Espat and Tourism Minister Mark, on the one hand, and the UDP leadership, Dean Barrow and Michael Finnegan, on the other, to work together against their common enemy - Housing Minister Dickie Bradley.” Amandala Editorial, Sunday, June 18, 2000.

“Well, what we would say here is that to choose not to lay the blame on Mark Espat (for selling almost two million dollars worth of BCB assets to LOVE FM’s Rene Villanueva for the sum of $14,000) is more evidence of the agreement between the Espats and Barrow/Finnegan.

“There is nothing illegal about what is going on here, but you need to know these things so you can understand why the Espats are always handled so lovingly by media systems which appear to be independent of each other and should be competing.”

“Jorge … benefits from being inveterately portrayed as squeaky clean in the … media cartel.”

“Political observers also noted that the propaganda outlets of the Opposition UDP, their newspaper and radio, were single minded and strident in their expressed hostility to Bradley, whereas Jorge Espat came in for almost no criticism at all from the GUARDIAN and WAVE Radio.” Amandala Editorial, December 3, 2000.

“It is said in some circles that the understanding which has existed between the UDP’s Dean Barrow (Queen’s Square) and Michael Finnegan (Mesopotamia), on the one hand, and the PUP’s Jorge Espat (Freetown) and Mark Espat (Albert), on the other, is based on the suggestion that in a close general election result in 2003, the two Espats would consider moving over to the UDP.” Amandala Editorial, July 22, 2001.

“The two Espats, however, are always in their own campaign gear … they have been setting themselves up as a third or fourth force in the politics of Belize.” Amandala Editorial, July 22, 2001.

“Most political pundits do not expect Mr. Espat to join the UDP in a formal sense, though we have remarked before in these pages about the romance between himself and the Barrow/Finnegan combo.” Amandala Editorial, Sunday, October 7, 2001.

We all saw clearly how this relationship between Mark Espat and the UDP strengthened over the years. He went much further and forged a working relationship between himself and Channel 7, the Reporter Newspaper and the Kremandala establishment. Have you ever wondered how Cabinet information and other “inside” news were leaked to them? WAVE Radio and the Guardian Newspaper never criticized him. The last evidence of this underhanded cooperation was revealed on Friday, March 14, 2008 at the Ceremonial Opening of the National Assembly. The agreement was that except for Mark Espat and Cordel Hyde, when the PUPs rose to take the Oath of Office, they would be booed by the UDP crowd. It worked without a hitch.

The question then is: what has really changed about Mark Espat?

His latest attack on the PUP suggests that little has changed. If he cannot become PUP leader, then he will do all in his power to destroy the PUP. He refuses to work within the PUP but is most willing to vilify the PUP in the media. He ran in the last general election under his own banner, never invoking the PUP name or its colors. It is clear, his political support, although buttressed with PUP/GOB money, is personal. Although everything he ever did in Albert was done with PUP/GOB resources, he never gave the PUP any of the credit.

Next week, we will remind you of the Amandala Editorial of Sunday, October 7, 2001, “The team and I”.