In the extract that you posted in your newspaper dated April 14, 2021 that came from the book, The Birth of The Nationalist Movement, page 217, the writer mentioned nothing about whether Great Britain exercised her authority when this appointment was made, since Belize was a colony of hers at the time. During that time the British and the Governor had the power to appoint a person from another Commonwealth country, which was always done. It seems as if the PUP/GWU opposed the appointment of the Jamaican national, not because they were against the individual and the appointment, but because they were tired of the British exercising their colonial control over their country.

The writer did not state why the People’s United Party (PUP) was against the West Indian Federation that was proposed by Great Britain, and the reasons must be told to the younger generations of Belizeans. The GWU stated the reasons why they opposed joining the West Indian Federation, which were Belizean nationalism and the fear that people migrating from the West Indies to Belize would take away the jobs of their members. Based on what was written by the writer, one might come to the conclusion that the PUP and GWU were taking the same position. On the record, from my research that was done, many members of the GWU were members of the PUP, and some of them later became elected representatives of the party. The Billboard was the newspaper for the National Independence Party (NIP), which was managed by the late Philip Goldson, a former member of the People’s United Party (PUP). He and several others, including the British government, accused George Price and his People’s United Party (PUP) of selling Belize to Guatemala.

In 1951 Philip Goldson, Leigh Richardson and George Price were placed on trial for sedition due to their political activities against the British government. Philip Goldson and Leigh Richardson were convicted and sent to prison, but George Price was acquitted. When these two men came out of prison, they became active within the PUP. The issue for the party was whether to join the West Indian Federation. Philip Goldson and Leigh Richardson, the leader of the party, were in favor of joining the West Indian Federation, but George Price was against it. This issue led to the breaking up of the PUP in 1956. A convention was held, and George Price became the leader of the PUP.

Goldson, Richardson and others formed a new political party by the name of Honduran Independence Party (HIP). This party did not last for too long. On July the 1st 1958 another party was formed by some members of HIP by the name of National Independence Party (NIP) and Herbert Fuller became the first leader. When he left the leadership, Philip Goldson became the leader until the party merged with the current United Democratic Party (UDP) in 1973. The first leader of the party was Dean Lindo, the uncle of Belize’s former three-term prime minister, Hon. Dean Barrow. Dean Lindo stepped down as leader of the UDP in 1979, after he lost his seat to the PUP candidate Said Musa in the Fort George Division. His party was defeated badly in that General Election by a margin of 13 PUP seats to 5 UDP seats out of 18. Dr. Theodore Aranda then became the leader of the party, and he also stepped down due to some misunderstanding with his party colleagues in 1982. A convention was later held, and Manuel Esquivel won and became the leader of the United Democratic Party (UDP).

Dr. Aranda went on to form his own political party by the name of the Christian Democratic Party (CDP). He was a candidate for his party in Dangriga in the General Election of 1984. He was defeated by the PUP candidate Simeon Sampson, along with Independent candidate Alan Arthurs, a former PUP minister and UDP candidate Norris Anderson. In the elections of 1984, the UDP defeated the PUP in a landslide by a margin of 21 to 7. In 1989 Dr. Aranda ran as a PUP candidate from Dangriga for the PUP and won. He was made Minister of Health. The UDP became the first opposition party to defeat the PUP and become the government of Belize in our country’s history. This party is now one of the leading political parties in Belize. They were recently defeated in the general election that was held last year by a landslide margin of 26 to 5 seats after being in office for three consecutive terms. I would like to hear from Assad Shoman and others, what was negotiated for Belize to become independent. This is information that is of extreme importance to all of our citizens.