George Cadle Price, Belizean politician, Prime Minister (1981–1984; 1989–1993), died at 92.

George Cadle Price PC  was the first Prime Minister of Belize and is considered to have been one of the principal architects of the country's independence, and is today referred to by many as "the Father of the Nation".
Born in Belize City to William and Irene (née Escalante) Price, he entered politics in 1947 with his election to the Belize City Council. Three years later, on September 29, 1950, he co-founded the People's United Party, which he led for four decades and which was devoted to the political and economic independence of the British colony, then known as British Honduras.^[1]

(January 15, 1919 – September 19, 2011)

Education and early political activities

Price was never educated further than St. John's College High School (SJC did not have a sixth form until the 1960s.) While there, however, he was exposed to the teachings of Catholic social justice, in particular the encyclical Rerum Novarum. Upon graduation Price was hired by local businessman Robert Sidney Turton as his private secretary. He also rallied a few SJC graduates, some of them later members of the PUP, to contest elections in 1944 and 1947 for the local Town Board, being successful in 1947. Price also contributed to the Belize Billboard, then run by Phillip Goldson.^{[citation needed]}

Later political career

Main article: People's United Party

Price, upon the formation of the People's Committee (PC) in 1950, was named its Assistant Secretary, and in a famous speech later that year claimed that "National Unity" propelled the PC's actions. With the formation of the PUP, Price's stature rose and he ascended through the party ranks until he became Party Leader following a leadership dispute in 1956.^{[citation needed]}
Elected to the colony's Legislative Council in 1954, he also served as mayor of Belize City from 1956 to 1962. In 1956, Price became also Party Leader of the PUP. As First Minister, a post he held since 1961, he led the team which began negotiations over independence with Great Britain. He maintained that post as Premier in 1964. In 1981 Belize gained its independence, and Price served as the country's first prime minister and foreign minister until 1984. After the PUP's defeat in the elections by the United Democratic Party under Manuel Esquivel, he resumed the post of prime minister in 1989, serving until 1993, when he was again replaced by Esquivel.^{[citation needed]}. In October 1996 he announced his resignation as party leader, and on November 10, 1996 was formally succeeded by Said Musa.

Honours

In September 2000, Price became the first person to receive Belize's highest honour, the Order of National Hero, for the prominent role he played in leading his country to independence. He has received similar honours in other Caribbean and Central American countries. In 1982, he was made a member of the Privy Council.^[1]

Death

Price died on September 19, 2011, aged 92, in a medically induced coma at Belize Healthcare Partners Hospital after surgery to remove a blood clot .^[2] A state funeral was held on Monday, September 26, 2011.


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