It is surely established that the UBAD organization (1969–1974) was a failure, the evidence being the violence and confusion which has emerged amongst those succeeding generations of the Belizeans for whom UBAD was primarily concerned – Belizeans of African descent.
It is, therefore, a contradiction that the newspaper which was founded by the failed UBAD in August of 1969, became the leading newspaper in Belize. Belize is a country dominated by two large political parties – the People’s United Party (PUP) and the United Democratic Party (UDP). Amandala belongs to neither of these parties, and has never been completely submissive or loyal to any of them.
In the beginning of UBAD/Amandala, the Hon. George Price, Premier of Belize, was at the height of his political power and glory. But it was also around this same time that Mr. Price, a tall, handsome man with natural physical dignity, began to lose the absolute support of the Roman Catholic Church for which he, as a young man, had studied to become a priest. Around 1972, some leading Roman Catholics in Belize formed the Liberal Party, which became one of the three founding parties of the Opposition UDP in September of 1973.
Mr. Price was a secretive man who spoke in generalities, and the only conclusion we can draw is that prominent Roman Catholics, along with some of Belize’s local business luminaries, became alarmed by the closeness of his relationship with Assad Shoman, a brilliant young lawyer of Palestinian/Mayan extraction who had become radicalized while studying in England between 1962 and 1967. Shoman’s rhetoric sounded communist to the people who formed the Liberal Party. Communism was a big deal in this region and in the world forty years ago, because the capitalist United States and communist Russia were fighting for the loyalty of poor countries. Plus, communism was atheistic, and Belize was very much a religious country.
The new UDP exposed political vulnerability in Mr. Price’s PUP for the first time since the party’s 1950 foundation, in the October 1974 general elections, followed by the December 1974 Belize City Council elections less than three months later. In fact, the UDP defeated the PUP in the December 1974 CitCo elections, 6-3.
Mr. Price decided to send an emissary to the Amandala editor/UBAD president, Evan X Hyde, who had been abandoned by half of the UBAD he led when that section of UBAD joined the UDP in 1973. Between 1975 and 1980, the PUP and Amandala were allies. There was no doubt that Mr. Price was the Maximum Leader, but it was not the PUP which had defeated UBAD/Amandala: it was the UDP. Evan X Hyde was, therefore, while a minor figure, not the typically subservient PUP.
Following the December 1977 Belize City Council elections, which were a disaster for the PUP, it became clear that the PUP leadership expected this newspaper to behave in a sycophantic way. In late 1980, a separation began between the political party and the newspaper which became a war with the Heads of Agreement in March of 1981.
When the PUP sought to re-organize after their 1984 general election defeat, Mr. Price was not the force he had been before. People like Glenn Godfrey, Ralph Fonseca and Said Musa were doing a lot of the work, but it was, of course, in Mr. Price’s name. Mr. Price was already a full-fledged legend, a living legend. But when the PUP returned to power in 1989, it began to emerge that the job of Belizean national leadership had become more strenuous in the independent Belize than it had been in colonial days, and that Mr. Price had aged somewhat.
The PUP lost power in 1993, and pressure from on high came for Mr. Price to give up leadership, which he did. He did serve an additional term in the House, however, from 1998 to 2003, before he withdrew from the House and became simply “PUP Leader Emeritus.”
In the aftermath of his death this week, there has been nothing less than an attempt to canonize Mr. Price, which is not surprising really. He had lived long enough for people to forget the bitter political fights in which he had been involved, and in Belize we are a sentimental people. Mr. Price was a unique and charismatic personality. It was difficult for people not to like him when they got to know him. And, of course, within the PUP he was adored.
Our editorial is not intended to criticize Mr. Price. Neither is it intended to glorify him. We give him total respect for his work ethic and output, his consistency and discipline, and his longevity. He was a great politician.
It may seem a minor matter, but we admired one thing about Mr. Price immensely. At PUP public meetings, he spoke last, as Party Leader. So that, he would have to wait for hours before he mounted the rostrum. During those hours, he stood with tall dignity and composure. He was never distracted or playful, even when he had to listen to foolishness from lightweights. Mr. Price came from a military tradition on his father’s side, and that military uprightness was evident at all his public appearances.
Rt. Hon. George C. Price has been given due credit for building the nation we know as Belize, which achieved self-government in 1964 and independence in 1981. There were times we at this newspaper had savage battles with himself and the PUP in these pages, and for sure he had his faults. But, we give him total respect for the fight for Belizean independence, and we extend this newspaper’s sincere condolences to his family, friends, and supporters.
Rest in peace, Rt. Hon. George.