The couple were due to visit a family-run Akte ’il Ha sustainable cacao farm,arriving in a helicopter which was supposed to land on a nearby football pitch,which had also aggrieved locals.
The protest was part of a long-running dispute over communal land rights with the state and charity group Flora and Fauna International,which works to protect ecosystems worldwide,over the rights to lands lost in the colonial era.
Some protestors from the indigenous Mayan village held up signs on Saturday that read “colonial legacy of theft continues with Prince”,and “this is not Crown land”. Another sign read:“Not Your Land,Not Your Decision”.
A sore point for the village of about 1000 people is just under 5000 hectares of land that they have been told by FFI agents is private property and not for communal use. William has been the patron of FFI since 2020,in a long line of royals.
Sebastian Shol,the chairman of Indian Creek Village told local media:“We don’t want them to land in our land,that’s the message that we want to send,they could land anywhere but not in our land.”
Dionisio Shol,described as a youth leader by Channel 7 news in Belize,said William supporting FFI was “something that we will not stand for”.