7 News Belize

The Times Commemorated
posted (October 3, 2011)
The PUP celebrated the 61st. anniversary of its founding last Thursday - but the country's oldest party handled it in a low key manner.

Today though, it did celebrate with some style as the party launched an exhibition of the Belize Times. Now, while the Times may not have ever enjoyed a position of journalistic eminence, it's not supposed to, it's a party organ and paints the world as the PUP sees it.

And at 55 years old, it is the longest established newspaper still being published in Belize.

As the exhibit was launched today, Party leader John Briceno told us why the Times matters:..

Hon. John Briceno, Leader of the People's United Party
"This time around we decided that we wanted to do something different we wanted to - since we were celebrating Belize at 31. We felt that is was a good time to be able to go through The Belize Times. Belize Times has been chronicling life of Belizeans and the history of Belize, through the eyes of the People's Unity Party."

Jules Vasquez
"Now the criticism you'll get, well the party's birthday was Thursday. Why are you waiting until October 3rd instead of September 29th?"

Hon. John Briceno, Leader of the People's United Party
"Well there are number factors that came into place. The first one if you look at we have been doing it has required a lot of effort and a lot of research for us to be able to do it properly. We wanted to do a good exhibition and not just something that was rushed and with the death with the Father of the Nation, one of the founders of the People's Unity Party, that kind of kept us back in the work that we were doing."

The Times was established by George Price after a split in the young PUP - when Leigh Richardson and Phillip Goldson among others were expelled - along with the original mouthpiece the Belize Billboard.

The first headline dated September 29, 1956 read: "Price Elected PUP Leader, Richardson, Jex, Goldson, Grinage Expelled." It sold for four cents.

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