By G. Michael Reid
My attention was brought to an article in the Amandala, dated Sunday, April 3rd 2011, by a good friend who recognized that a story being told therein, did not coincide with her recollection of the facts. Titled "When fish come from River bottom….", the article was the narrative of a drama in which I was a main player. Let me first of all pledge to my readers, that I will in no way be engaging in any back and forth on this subject and will subject none to the rehashing of this story, long told and grown old. There are just too many fallacies and inconsistencies however and too blatant an attempt to defame my character for me to not at least try to set this record straight.
This is a story that began way back in 1991 when I first returned to Belize after living abroad for two decades. I met and became involved with a young journalist by the name of Audrey Matura. That union produced a male child who turns eighteen this summer and of whom I am well proud. I will be forever grateful to Audrey for facilitating his arrival on this plane. The relationship did not last long after my son was born and Audrey has gone on to remarry more than once since then. I was hesitant to even comment on this matter because I did not want my son to be affected in anyway. I believe however, that nothing that either myself or Audrey writes at this point will influence his psyche or affect his care or attitude toward either of us. Children have a way of forming their own opinions based on personal recollections and by observing the treatment given to them by parents or guardians. I seriously contemplated simply ignoring this attack but again, too many lies are being told.
What I cannot figure out, is why Audrey would want to this Pandora's Box again? Quo animo; what does she hope to gain? I can only figure that she is seeking favor in the eyes of her new boss. She has begun a weekly column in the Amandala and of course, G. Mike is the quintessential archenemy of that empire and to speak against him is to find favor behind the Zinc Fence!
Audrey begins her story by explaining to Belizeans the meaning of the old Belizean proverb "when fish come from river bottom and tell you that alligator have belly-ache…believe ah". Indeed! Problem is that in this case, it is the alligator that has surfaced with the story and the fish that is left with the bellyache.
In her article, Audrey paints herself as this poor, defenseless victim of abuse and as the subject of a conspiracy by an entire government who wanted her "OUT! Wow! Who can remember any major impact that Audrey had as either a Senator or as the editor of the Guardian? According to Audrey, she was a "one-woman Opposition" having founded the Guardian newspaper all by herself and "travelled the entire country…campaigning." Wonder if that had anything to do with her UDP losing two consecutive elections by large margins?
Audrey goes on to give her account of the particulars of a trial that was held before the Belize Family Court. She is right about one thing; it is a long story that might require a book. I will not bore you with any details but address a few mistruths that she presented.
After Audrey and I broke up, she refused to allow me access to my son. I spent many years fighting in court and finally acquired visitation rights for my son. The court ordered that I see my son every other weekend, which in my opinion was hardly enough, but I made the most of my time with the child.
Audrey spoke of Cynthia Pitts as some incorruptible judge who "could not be manipulated and threatened to agree to the ploy" of getting her a criminal record. What a joke! The truth is that said case did not begin under Cynthia Pitts. The matter began under Margaret Nicholas who was kind enough to grant me visitation rights. Audrey then approached Cynthia Pitts, who confessed to me that she and Audrey were very good friends. Pitts removed Margaret Nicholas and placed herself over the case in order to frustrate the situation and continuously rule in Audrey's favor. When Audrey refused to abide by the court order and grant me access to my son, I kept going back to the court in order to have her comply. What Cynthia Pitts did was to give Audrey a restraining order which she wielded like a heavy axe. I spent no less than five weekends in the piss-house just for daring to try and see my son.
It was on one of those occasions, while I was being dragged off to jail, that Lois Young became involved. I was at an SJC Expo Fair when I saw my son and went over to say hello. Audrey immediately called the Police and reported that I had violated the order by going too close to her. I will be forever grateful to Lois Young for her unselfish dedication to my cause. I remain convinced that for the simple reason that she saw a wrong being perpetrated against another human being that she took my case and brought almost a decade of misery to an end.
I am glad that Audrey admits that she has a criminal record but it had nothing to do with any conspiracy against her. The case of contempt was a criminal matter and could not be handled in the Family Court. The magistrate handed down a sentence of three months imprisonment but suspended the sentence in consideration of the children. What was interesting was that the day the judgment was delivered, Dean Barrow presented himself in the court room and sat directly staring at the magistrate. If there was anyone that could not be "threatened or manipulated" it was Sharon Frazier, who still ruled the way she saw fit in spite of Mr. Barrow's attempt to intimidate her.
The part of the story that Audrey left out, was that just a few months after receiving said leniency, she kidnapped my son and took him to live with her mother in Los Angeles while she went to study in Guyana. For that reason, Audrey Matura should now be in jail. She should not have been called before the Bar for how can one swear to uphold the statutes of any institution that they have so blatantly disrespected.
There is an organization in the United States that I would be remiss in not making mention of and offer thanks for their assistance. The National Committee for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) is an organization that does remarkable work in assisting families whose children are kidnapped or abused. That organization found my son after Audrey had changed his name and took the case to court on my behalf. They eventually succeeded in obtaining a court order for my son to be returned to Belize.
There is so much more to this story but I promised not to bore you with details. Suffice to say, nobody conspired against Audrey and to accuse me of being abusive is an outright lie. Audrey really should leave well enough alone for if the real story was to be told, she would forever hang her head in shame!
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Source: The Belize Times
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