Belize is viewed by their neighboring countries work force as the jewel to reach and find a wealth of income to send home to their impoverished families. What they do not understand is that they will often be treated as slaves once the reach Belize.

Most are young women, trying to make a change and help their families. Some have passports or travel documents and with ease they can enter and work in Belize, either in Belize City or on of the tourist islands.

Those without papers travel a different path however. An employer seeking illegal workers can go to Honduras or Guatemala, find girls and bring them back through a border crossing. For $400 Belize (US $200) per girl paid to Belize Immigration the girls are processed and allowed to enter the country under the strict supervision of the man who brought them in. From that point on the employer owns them and that debt. If they try and run they are either beaten of turned over to Immigration.

Many find work in what is known as ficha bars. Ficheras are Latinas who work in Latin cantinas/bars as escorts who accompany men in the bar for drinks. They drink for monetary commission. The word originated from "Ficha" (ticket). The male client purchases her a beer or cocktail drink at an inflated price. For example a 12 oz. beer for her would be $10. The bar owner keeps $6 and the fichera keeps $4 as commission.

At night, some of the girls are locked up in spaces more like a box than a room. After they had finished all the services required of them, which could include prostitution or sexual assault by their employers, they are locked with padlocks into these rooms with sometimes as may as 5 women in one 6 foot by 6 foot room. Their travel documents are held until a debt for travel and claimed paperwork with Immigration is paid off.

The term "Fichera" stuck and is always used to describe these women; even amongst themselves. The fichera life is tough. Almost all ficheras use cocaine or crystal meth to counteract the depressant effects of alcohol. This allows them to stay alert and drink more beers/cocktails.

On the island of Ambergris Caye in the Island Paradise known as San Pedro there are some 30 Ficha bars. All ignores the true nature of these businesses. On occasion Immigration will raid the bars taking bribes and pay offs from the owners. Often, those without the money to pay find themselves spending as long 6 months in the women’s wing of Hattieville Prison the third worst prison in the world for human rights violations.


My first exposure to this practice happened when I arrived home one night to find a girl, badly beaten on the deck of my house. She lived across the lagoon from me and I often saw her fishing with a man whom I had assumed was her boyfriend. I will call her Maria.

This man who was her ¨boyfriend had repeatedly sold Maria, 24, for money and drugs. ¨ He operated with her and other girls out of a nightclub called Big Daddy’s, a bar owned by The Mayor of San Pedro. He had brought her in from Mexico, paid off immigration and had kept her for six months as a sex slave and source of income.

The media on the Island turns a blind eye to stories like these and in some cases passes blame on to the innocent in order to protect their own interests. One example is the American Owned The San Pedro Sun one of two newspapers on the Island. Another offender is the property ¨The Pink Motel¨, owned and operated by American Attorney Robert P. Martin of the law firm Bailey & Wyant, P.L.L.C. Ask any taxi driver on the Island for a place to find women, you will be directed to the “The Pink Motel”, where you may find members of the staff of The San Pedro Sun.

Belize does have a Human Trafficking department extension of the government. After contacting the director I was told these issues are handled by immigration and social services and that I ¨should not worry about it¨.

After my encounter with Maria, I began to get involved in the lives of these Ficheras. After several months my girlfriend and I were running a shelter and support center for them from my home. The publisher of The San Pedro Sun, An American woman named Tamara Sniffen branded my home a whoerehouse and publicly called me the pimp of the island. I was even attacked once after dark.

Belize needs to take responsibility for the well being of these illegal and legal workers. Human trafficking in Belize is a horrible crime against human dignity and can result in beating and death. Let’s shed some light on this heinous problem and hold those involved accountable.