Opposition Leader leads tributes to Philip Goldson at grave site

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Posted: Tuesday, October 3, 2023. 2:30 pm CST.

By Aaron Humes: The Honorable Philip Stanley Wilberforce Goldson, National Hero, died on this day in 2001.

Leader of the Opposition United Democratic Party Moses “Shyne” Barrow; Chairman Michael Peyrefitte; area representative for Albert Tracey Taegar-Panton and  East Regional Leader Melvin Hewlett this morning joined to celebrate the memory of Philip Goldson, former Leader of the Opposition, Area Representative for Albert, Leader of the National Independence Party and a founding leader of the UDP (though never maximum leader).

The Party Leader wrote, “What Philip Goldson did for our Independence, Democracy, Civil Liberties, Free Press, Free Speech, Decolonization and Territorial Integrity is incomparable. We thank him, we celebrate him, we pray to emulate him and continue his legacy of advocacy for the betterment of the Belizean people in the framework of a strengthened Democracy, expanded civil liberties, Sovereignty and sacred Territorial Integrity.”

Goldson served as editor of the Belize Billboard before going to jail for an article that offended authorities in 1950. Six years later he would cut ties with the People’s United Party and begin a long run in Opposition, including being at times the sole voice in Opposition, before becoming a Minister of Government under Sir Manuel Esquivel. He died about a month after receiving the nation’s highest honor and previously had his name on the International Airport and much later, the road leading past it to the North.

Goldson’s bust and the plinth on which it rested, sculpted by Stephen Okeke, was knocked down during a traffic accident on Carnival weekend and is being repaired.

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