Nothing Ashcroft does is charity, says Usher

By Breaking Belize News Staff (HP): The Speednet acquisition may be dead, but the story of how it was pitched is still coming out, and it includes a striking characterization of how one of the deal’s biggest players presented the offer.

According to 7News, when Lord Michael Ashcroft spoke with the Social Security Board of Directors about the proposed sale of SMART/Speednet to BTL, he made it sound as if he was doing BTL a favour by offering the chance to buy, framing the sale almost as a form of charity, which is also why, per the report, he was not open to negotiation and had no interest in an independent valuation.

The station put that framing directly to PUP Chairman Henry Charles Usher, noting that Ashcroft had presented the offer “almost as a charity” and “within a threat,” essentially telling the board he was doing Belize a favour.

Usher’s response left no room for interpretation. “Well, that gentleman does not get into any business transaction for charity. He gets into business transactions to make a profit,” he told 7News. “And he does whatever is in his power, in his group’s power, to maximize that profit. So I would not describe any business deal or any transaction that he has ever proposed as charitable.”

The exchange helps explain the skepticism that surrounded the deal from the start. The Government, the Social Security Board, and the people of Belize are the majority owners of BTL, and a proposed acquisition presented without negotiation or independent valuation was always going to face questions about whose interest it served.

Those questions found their answer this week. Cabinet announced on Wednesday that it does not support the proposed acquisition, effectively killing the deal one day before the unions’ planned wear-black protest and days ahead of the demonstration set for Belmopan.

It should be noted that the characterization of the Social Security Board meeting comes through 7News’ reporting, and Lord Ashcroft has not responded to it in the report. The history between the Ashcroft business group and the Belizean state, including the long and costly battles over BTL itself, forms the backdrop against which many Belizeans read this latest chapter.

The deal is off the table. The lessons of how it arrived there look set to be discussed for some time.

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