A Great Belizean Passes

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of Breaking Belize News.

By Bill Lindo; Belize City, July 11th: Yesterday morning, my friend Steve Nembhard called me to say that Dr. Ted Arana had passed away.

I have personally known Dr. Arana for the past 28 years. I first met him in 1994 when Evan X Hyde and myself organized the May 15th Movement within the People’s United Party (PUP). The PUP had just lost an election that should never have been held in 1993, and by the following March, the PUP had lost the majority of the Town Boards.

On May 15th, 1994 a group of politicians within the PUP got together and decided that the thrust/direction of the Party was wrong and needed to be changed. The last time this happened within the PUP was in 1956.

Dr. Arana and especially his lovely wife worked very hard to get control of the various organs within the party and control of a majority of the electoral divisions. We took control of the women’s and youth section of the party and some 15 electoral divisions within the Party and ended up sharing the National Executive Committee along with the old-guard.

Our group consisted of John Briceno, Cordel Hyde, Dolores Balderamos, Jose Coye, Dr Arana, Dr Gregs Garcia, Florencio Marin Sr, Dan Silva, Evan X Hyde and Bill Lindo. It was this group that convinced the Belizean voters to vote again for the PUP in the 1996 Belize City Council, followed by the Municipal elections in 1997 and the General Elections of 1998.

Yes, in 1981 Dr. Arana told the people of Belize not to support Independence, but later he changed and was until death last Sunday, a true Belizean Patriot. He was completely opposed to Belize going to the ICJ to satisfy the whims of the Anglo-Saxons – for him, Belize was already Independent since September 21st, 1981, why so let foreigners decide again? He loved Belize and its people and was always worrying about the suffering of the less fortunate. And don’t forget that as Minister of Health, he convinced the Cuban Government to help Belize with medical scholarships and providing us with Cuban doctors.

Ted Aranda was a true Belizean patriot and we should always remember him that way.

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