Has Social Justice Taken a Back Seat in the PUP?
Veteran PUP politician Hector David Silva Sr. says the People’s United Party has continued to deliver social services, but has lost ground on the social justice principles that he says shaped the party.
Silva said the PUP was founded around two areas: social services, which focused on assisting people and communities, and social justice, which involved protecting people’s rights and confronting injustices.
Silva said the current PUP administration has delivered in terms of social services. “I can vouch that under the present government of which I can speak, there has been great social services actions taken… National Health Insurance, free education, name it,” he said.
However, Silva agreed with Minister Julius Espat that the PUP is lacking on social justice, pointing to concerns about injustices raised by people across the country.
“Minister Julius Espat said that social justice was lacking, which I agree with him… people complaining about a lot of things.”
Silva cited Maya land rights, concerns from the Garifuna community about political inclusion and complaints from cane farmers involving ASR as examples of what he considers social injustice.
Silva also recalled a conversation with former Prime Minister and PUP leader George Price, who he said told him during Price’s final years that Belize needed a “second revolution” to bring justice and prosperity to all Belizeans.
His advice to the current PUP administration is to revisit the party’s history and examine the principles that guided it from its formation through the independence movement.