"Who wouldn't want to buy an island?" entrepreneur Marshall Mayer dreamed in 2018 of a 1.2-acre islet 15 minutes by boat from Belize in the Gulf of Mexico.
Baptized as Coffee Caye, it was uninhabited, so Mayer launched a project to find investors who would contribute small amounts of money to pay the high price of the island, according to the CNN news network.
Now he also dreams of creating his own country on that islet.
To get the money to acquire the island, the businessman resorted to an idea that one of his partners had 15 years ago, Gareth Johnson, who bought the internet domain letsbuyanisland.com with the aim of raising funds for the collective purchase of a territory .
Thus they raised $250,000 to acquire the island, which ultimately cost them $180,000 plus taxes.
Campaign participants bought $3,250 worth of shares in exchange for becoming
citizens
of the islet with voting rights.
His intention is to declare the independence of a new nation baptized as the Principality of Iceland, a "democracy" that has a flag, anthem, national day, and a prince: Marshall Meyer.
"We plan to use our island paradise to promote our ideals of democracy, inclusion and sustainability. We will do so in a way that is in line with and improves upon the laws of our host nation," the
principality
says on its website.
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Citizenship of this island can be acquired by purchasing a kind of membership.
The partners hope to bring together 5,000 citizens.
Due to travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, the first tour of the island for its
citizens
was delayed until this year: "It's an incredible feeling," Meyer told CNN describing what it feels like to walk on your own island.
The inspiration for the project comes from other micronation ideas such as the Principality of Sealand in England, which was declared an independent nation by its new owners in 1967.
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The real estate agent who facilitated the purchase of the island told CNN that investors need to "balance the environment with economic growth" to be successful as there are many protected natural areas around such as mangroves that would need permits from the Government of Belize to be intervened.
The community that has created Coffee Caye is made up of travelers from all over the world: "It was crazy, a leap of faith, but we achieved our initial goal of buying an island," said Meyer.