By Zoila Palma: Deputy Prime Minister Cordel Hyde says political power can create distance between those in government and the people they serve, warning that leaders must remain humble, listen to the public and recognize that power is temporary.
Hyde made the remarks during an interview on September 23, 2026, following recent public discussion about the People’s United Party’s commitment to social justice.
Prime Minister John Briceño had previously said, “The People’s United Party is based on social justice, and the time that we move from that, then we cannot be the People’s United Party.”
Hyde was subsequently asked during a 7news interview whether discussions about the government’s connection to social justice and the realities facing Belizeans are taking place within Cabinet.
“And power does that to you. I think power gets you, um, in kind of a cocoon somewhere. Like, it gets you– you, you get carried away,” Hyde said.
Hyde said those in power must recognize that political authority is not permanent and should act before public dissatisfaction becomes unmistakable. “Um, I’ve seen that for the longest possible time, and I think we in power have to tame our darker impulses. We have to understand that power is– it’s temporary, it’s fleeting even. It doesn’t last forever. Um, this can quickly change. Um, it may be that it’s changing already. We don’t know. But we can’t wait until that message is sent to us in black and white,” he said.
“We have to act before it does. And I think that we have to be far more humble, um, listen more, fear the people. Fear the people. You can’t go wrong fearing the people ’cause when you fear the people, then you’ll do right by the people,” Hyde added.
“But the minute you get carried away with your power and you think that you’re so great, and you think that you’re God’s gift to the world, and you– Uh, some of the people help you too, you know. They, they, they, fluff you up. They blow you up. They make you feel like all is well, and, um, and all is not well,” he stated.
He pointed to the cost of living and challenges facing Belizeans as realities that government must confront. “All cannot be well if we are experiencing the kinda crisis that we’re experiencing with the cost of living, um, the challenges that’s happening all over the world. This is Belize. This is– It’s gonna happen here, and it’s gonna happen here on a greater scale, uh, in many instances, and we have to just be, um… We have to be real. We have to get back to what we were before.”
“We have to get back on track. We have to stay humble. We have to listen. We have to be more loving. We have to be what we were when we started to win, how we started to win, and if we intend to continue winning,” he said.
The post Hyde warns: “The minute you get carried away with power… All is not well” appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Zoila Palma: Deputy Prime Minister Cordel Hyde says political power can create distance between those in government and the people they serve, warning that leaders must remain humble, listen to the public and recognize that power is temporary. Hyde made the remarks during an interview on September 23, 2026, following recent public discussion about
The post Hyde warns: “The minute you get carried away with power… All is not well” appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
