Next Friday marks the 41st anniversary of the establishment of Amandala, which began as the newspaper organ of a cultural organization called the United Black Association for Development (UBAD). When UBAD entered an alliance with the People’s Action Committee (PAC) in October of 1969, then this new organization (known as the Revolitical Action Movement – RAM) published a single newspaper called Amandala with Fire, Fire having been the newspaper organ of PAC.
The RAM leaders were approached by the leaders of the Opposition NIPDM coalition after Premier George Price, Leader of the ruling People’s United Party (PUP), called early general elections in November of 1969. The RAM leaders in a meeting with NIPDM held at a home on the Northern Highway just outside of Belize City, declined an invitation to participate in the December 1969 elections.
The RAM coalition broke up in January of 1970, so Amandala immediately returned to being just Amandala. The following month, February of 1970, Amandala publisher Ismail Shabazz and editor Evan X Hyde were arrested and charged for seditious conspiracy because of an Amandala article. The arrests represented an act of aggression against UBAD by the new PUP government which had won a 17-1 landslide against NIPDM the previous December.
The seditious conspiracy arrests and Supreme Court trial basically propelled the UBAD leadership into constituting the organization as a political party in August of 1970.
In November of 1971, the UBAD Party ran in coalition with Philip Goldson’s Opposition National Independence Party (NIP) against the ruling PUP in Belize City Council elections. Amandala, of course, campaigned for the coalition, which was unsuccessful.
UBAD began to divide in early 1973 because one faction wanted to join the Unity Congress (which would give rise to the United Democratic Party [UDP] in September of 1973) and the other faction preferred independence, at least for as long as Philip Goldson was absent in London studying law.
As its final act, the independent faction of the UBAD Party presented a single candidate in the October 1974 general elections, president Evan X Hyde in the Collet constituency. (In 1974, Collet included much of what are now the Lake Independence, Pickstock, Albert and Queen’s Square constituencies.) Evan X Hyde was the editor of Amandala, and the newspaper, naturally, supported his Collet candidacy, which was, predictably, unsuccessful.
For the December 1977 Belize City Council elections, for which the ruling PUP had drafted Evan X Hyde as a candidate, Amandala supported the PUP, and went on to support the PUP in the December 1979 general elections, won by the PUP by a 13-5 margin. (The UDP had won a landslide victory in the 1977 CitCo elections.)
In the December 1984 general elections, Amandala supported the UDP, who won by a 21-7 margin over the PUP. This was a landmark national election, because it was the first time the PUP would lose and an Opposition party would take national power.
The 1989 general elections featured a campaign promise by the Opposition PUP to give Amandala a radio license if they won. This was a campaign in which the ruling UDP refused to advertize in Amandala, Belize’s leading newspaper. The PUP won these September 1989 general elections by the narrowest of margins, 15-13.
For the June 1993 general elections, although Amandala endorsed PUP Caribbean Shores candidate, Joe Coye, in UDP Leader Manuel Esquivel’s constituency, the UDP, in coalition with Philip Goldson’s NABR, returned to advertizing in Amandala and won a slim victory over the PUP by a 16-13 margin.
Amandala does not consider itself as having campaigned for the PUP in the 1993 general elections, the reason being that the PUP had behaved in a hostile and treacherous manner in the KREM Radio affair. But for sure this newspaper was not supporting the UDP/NABR.
In the campaign leading up to the August 1998 general elections, Amandala went all out for the Opposition PUP, whose ticket included this newspaper publisher’s second son, Cordel Hyde, as their Lake Independence candidate. The PUP won, 26-3.
To a lesser extent, the 1998 scenario remained the case in the March 2003 general elections, which the PUP won by a 26-5 margin.
Amandala and the 2003–2008 Said Musa PUP administration began to part ways in April of 2004. In the six plus years since then, we think it may be fair to say that Amandala has returned to an independent status, apart from supporting the social justice policies of the PUP Albert area representative, Mark Espat, and the Lake I area rep, Cordel Hyde, and besides condemning the neoliberalism of the so-called “old guard” of the PUP.
With the ruling UDP reaching the mid-point of its five-year term and national municipal elections expected in 19 months, there are reported to be some stirrings inside the Opposition PUP. We remind our readers and advertizers that we have never participated in the business of elected governments, and we intend for that to continue being the case. Historically, when we have had special interest in any matter, we have been open and transparent with our readers and advertizers. The record speaks for itself, and that record is now 41 years long.
Power to the people. Power in the struggle.