Independence!

Free but vulnerable

All week long, it was a time for celebration and the infectious beat of "brukdown" music. Then it was a time for ceremony. There was a skirl of bagpipes and the boom of a 21-gun salute.

The Union Jack was lowered and in its place rose the red, white and blue flag of Belize. The former colony once known as British Honduras became the world's newest nation and, with a population of 150,000, one of its smallest.

The transfer of power ended more than 300 years of British colonial rule on the North American mainland, dating from 1607, when the first permanent English settlement was founded at Jamestown, Va. On hand for the festivities in Belize were Queen Elizabeth IPs personal emissary, Prince Michael of Kent, who turned over the reins of government to Prime Minister George Price and the new Governor General, Dr. Minita Gordon.

Also present were delegations from some 63 other countries, including a 15-member contingent from the U.S. headed by Thomas Enders, the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs.

The show of support was designed, in part, to forestall any chance that Belize, nestled between Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and Guatemala, might run into serious trouble even before it got a chance to enjoy its new status. Guatemala's hostile military regime has reasserted claims to the area dating back to an 1859 boundary treaty with Britain. In talks with Guatemalan officials earlier this year, Britain agreed to give Guatemala access to the Caribbean through Belize, but the negotiations subsequently broke down. Guatemala closed its borders with Belize and severed consular relations with Britain.

Last week Britain issued a stern warning that it would not tolerate aggression against Belize, which is now a member of the 45-nation Commonwealth with Queen Elizabeth as its titular head of state. Britain--and perhaps Canada as well--was prepared to intervene militarily if Belize was attacked. In the mean time, since Belize has only a 700-man defense force, Britain will leave 1,600 troops in the country "for an appropriate period," which will be at least long enough to train additional local troops.

Some Belizeans-- who are an ethnic mix of African, Mayan, Caribbean and European descendants -- were still nervous that their little country had been left vulnerable by independence. Opposition politicians went so far as to protest the new status and boycott the independence ceremonies. But Prime Minister Price, 62, carried his country along, just as he has dominated it since Britain granted Belize self-rule in 1964. Says one diplomat: "He certainly knows how to use the levers of power." A onetime Roman Catholic seminarian, Price led the struggle for independence after his political party was founded in 1950. In 1958 he was tried for sedition by the British and found innocent. Despite the doubters, Price is convinced that his country can go it alone.

Price and Belize will have their problems. The substandard economy depends on exports of sugar cane, bananas and citrus fruits, but only 15% of the arable land is cultivated. There is little industry. Per capita income is only $1,038 a year, and Belize stands to lose the $8 million in aid it received last year from Britain. To help get Belize on its feet, London did make a parting grant of $22 million. In addition, Belize's independent status will make it eligible for aid from the United Nations (it became a member last week by a vote of 144 to 1, with only Guatemala opposing) and the International Monetary Fund.

U.S. officials, meanwhile, indicated that aid from the U.S. may also be forthcoming. Assistant Secretary of State Enders told TIME Mexico Bureau Chief James Willwerth in Belize City last week that it is in American interests to have "this independent democratic government succeed." Enders added that the U.S. had already had talks with the Guatemalan government about giving up any idea of taking away the freedom that the citizens of Belize were celebrating so warmly.

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