In exclusive statements to Prensa Latina, he pointed out that political slavery is temporary, because, like a disease, it can be cured, but cultural slavery cannot, because it is more subtle and more deadly.
After insisting that this situation affects many peoples of the world, he explained that political independence largely ends political servitude, but not cultural slavery.
The prominent Belizean lawyer and author made a special presentation at the “New Operation Truth, from Cuba to the World” international forum, organized by Prensa Latina from January 21 to 23 with the participation of some 60 foreign experts.
The event, attended by delegates from 30 countries, was inaugurated on Sunday by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the original Operation Truth, convened in 1959 by the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro.
At the forum, Smith, who is the incumbent judge of the Supreme Court, noted that “the language, customs and values of a people are their essence, their soul and their life,” and warned that when that people imitate those foreign values, “they lose their national identity, they lose their soul.”
Smith charged that the powers, after imposing their political, legal and economic structure and exploiting their colonies for centuries, “promote and perpetuate subjugation through the universalization of their way of life in our societies.”
The language, religion, law, ideas, values and traditions imposed on a native culture remain, even after independence, because the conquered are indoctrinated so that they can feel culturally inferior, he noted.
These powers are capable of flooding information and media spaces, limiting our ability to expose our people to indigenous content, the former minister of Foreign Affairs, of Defense and of Tourism and Information of Belize pointed out.
In order to do this, they use television, advertising and the entertainment industry, he added.
At the conclusion of his presentation at the forum, he underscored that in this region of the world, Cuba is one of the best examples of a new State that has freed itself from the bonds of political, economic and cultural colonialism.
Smith, a former attorney general and former member of Belize’s parliament, is the author of the biographies of late Prime Ministers George Price (Belize) and Michael Manley (Jamaica, as well as the book “The Assassination of Maurice Bishop” (former Prime Minister of Granada), among others.
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