The Right Honourable Sir
Manuel Esquivel
KCMG
Esquivel in 1993
2nd Prime Minister of Belize
In office
17 December 1984 – 7 September 1989
MonarchElizabeth II
Governor GeneralElmira Minita Gordon
DeputyCurl Thompson
Preceded byGeorge Cadle Price
Succeeded byGeorge Cadle Price
In office
3 July 1993 – 30 August 1998
Governors GeneralElmira Minita Gordon
Colville Young
DeputyDean Barrow
Preceded byGeorge Cadle Price
Succeeded bySaid Musa
Leader of the Opposition
In office
7 September 1989 – 3 July 1993
Prime MinisterGeorge Cadle Price
Preceded byFlorencio Marin
Succeeded byGeorge Cadle Price
Member of the Belize House of Representatives for Caribbean Shores
In office
14 December 1984 – 27 August 1998
Preceded by(constituency created)
Succeeded byJose Coye
Personal details
Born(1940-05-02)2 May 1940
Belize City, British Honduras
(now Belize)
Died10 February 2022(2022-02-10) (aged 81)
Belize City, Belize
Political partyUnited Democratic Party (1973–2022)
Liberal Party (1969–1973)
SpouseKathleen Levy (m. 1971)
Children3

Sir Manuel Amadeo Esquivel KCMG, PC (2 May 1940 – 10 February 2022) was a Belizean politician. As leader of the United Democratic Party, he served as the second prime minister of Belize from 1984 to 1989, and then again from 1993 to 1998. His party's victory in 1984 was the first time an opposition party had won a general election in Belize.

Early life

Esquivel was born in Belize City when it was the capital of the British Crown Colony of British Honduras. He attended St John's College and later earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics at Loyola University New Orleans; he subsequently pursued a postgraduate certificate in physics education at Bristol University, England.[1]

Politics

After the 1969 British Honduras election, Esquivel became head of the pro-business Liberal Party, which later merged with two other parties in 1973 to form the United Democratic Party (UDP).[2] He was elected to the Belize City Council for two terms,[1] and served as UDP chairman from 1976 to 1982.[3] In the 1979 election, Esquivel was the UDP nominee for the Belize House of Representatives in the Freetown constituency. He was defeated by the incumbent Premier of Belize George Cadle Price, leader of the People's United Party (PUP).[4] Esquivel was then appointed a minority member of the Belize Senate.[5] He defeated Philip Goldson for the open UDP leadership post in January 1983, becoming the first and thus far only politician to be elected leader of a major Belizean political party as a senator. Acting opposition leader Curl Thompson stayed on as the UDP's House leader until the following election.[2]

Esquivel was elected in December 1984 to the House of Representatives from the newly formed constituency of Caribbean Shores in Belize City, becoming prime minister for the first time shortly thereafter.[6] The UDP's victory was the first time an opposition party had won since the introduction of universal suffrage in 1954.[7][8] He held the seat until the 1998 election, in which he was defeated by the PUP's Jose Coye.[9]

Earlier in 1984, the Price government was faced with a financial crisis, and had nearly depleted its financial reserves. After increasing tax rates twice, they entered into a standby agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Upon becoming prime minister, Esquivel proceeded with economic reforms under the advice of domestic experts such as Edney Cain.[10] Esquivel began moving the economy of Belize away from his predecessor's mixed economy model, encouraging foreign direct investment and the growth of tourism.[11] In his second term, he implemented unpopular austerity measures such as public sector retrenchment.[12] His government suspended pay raises from 1995 to 1997, but transferred 450,000 shares of Belize Telecommunications to a trust for the affected workers.[13] The opposition PUP dubbed Esquivel as "VATMAN" for introducing a 15% value-added tax (VAT)[10] in 1995. While Esquivel's successor Said Musa repealed the VAT in 1999, Musa introduced a similar 10% goods and services tax (GST) in 2005.[14]

After the UDP won the February 2008 election, Esquivel was appointed by Prime Minister Dean Barrow as senior advisor to government with the rank of minister on 12 February 2008.[15] He was also appointed Chairman of the Central Bank of Belize on 18 January 2011.[16] He stepped down as Chairman in September 2013, and resigned from the Cabinet in March 2014.[17]

Esquivel continued to provide opinions on public issues after retiring. Having served on the national flag design committee, he advocated for a standardized definition of the flag and the coat of arms.[18] Although his government had opposed cannabis trafficking,[19] Esquivel expressed support for decriminalization of small amounts in 2017.[20] He published an editorial in the Amandala newspaper supporting the 2019 Belizean territorial dispute referendum.[21] When the government began administering COVID-19 vaccine to citizens over 60, Esquivel and his wife were among the first recipients.[22]

Personal life

Esquivel met his future wife, Kathleen Levy, while he was studying in Bristol.[23] They wed in 1971 and had three children: David, Laura, and Ruth.[1][24] Laura followed in her father's footsteps as a public servant, serving as a Belize City councilor (2006-2012), Director of the Belize Tourism Board (2012-2014),[25][17] and Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Belize in Washington, D.C.[26]

Esquivel was a passenger in vehicle rollovers in 1996 and 2009 on the Western Highway. Both accidents were caused by wet road conditions. While he only sustained minor injuries from the first accident, Esquivel underwent facial surgery after the second.[27]

Kathleen, Lady Esquivel, wrote a biography of Esquivel entitled Still Waters, which was published in 2021.[28] Esquivel died on 10 February 2022, at the age of 81.[24][29][30]

Honours

Esquivel was appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II in 1986. This life-time appointment confers the title "Right Honourable".[31] He also held an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Loyola University.[32]

Esquivel was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 2010 New Year Honours.[33]

In 2021, the Belize City Council renamed an overpass after Esquivel.[34][35] The coastal road connecting Belize District and Stann Creek District is also named after him.[36]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "THE COMET OF BELIZE (Published 1984)". The New York Times. 16 December 1984. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  2. 1 2 United Democratic Party, Countrystudies.us. (accessed 10 October 2014)
  3. ↑ "Profile of two leaders". Great Belize Television. 26 August 1998. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  4. ↑ General Elections 1979, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 13 February 2022)
  5. ↑ EMBRACING History: Dr. Manuel Esquivel AmbergrisCaye.com. (accessed 9 October 2014)
  6. ↑ General Elections 1984 Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (archived 16 October 2014)
  7. ↑ "50 Years of Universal Adult Suffrage". Tropical Vision Limited. 28 April 2004. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  8. ↑ "Populist Regains His Power In Belize General Elections". The New York Times. Reuters. 6 September 1989. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  9. ↑ General Elections 1998 Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 12 February 2022)
  10. 1 2 "Former P.M. has last laugh on taxation". Great Belize Television. 30 May 2005. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  11. ↑ "Sir Manuel, An Unlikely Politician". Tropical Vision Limited. 29 July 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  12. ↑ Humes, Aaron (31 July 2021). "Sir Manuel Esquivel gets biography". www.breakingbelizenews.com. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  13. ↑ Castillo, Phillip (19 December 2015). "Retired public officers say they want money that rightfully belongs to them". Amandala Newspaper. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  14. ↑ "House Debates & Passes GST Bill". Tropical Vision Limited. 28 December 2005. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  15. ↑ "Prime Minister Dean Barrow announces new Cabinet". The San Pedro Sun. Vol. 18, no. 7. 14 February 2008. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012.
  16. ↑ 2011 Annual Report and Statement of Accounts (PDF). Central Bank of Belize. p. 2.
  17. 1 2 "Mass resignation by the Esquivel Family from senior government posts". Great Belize Television. 17 March 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  18. ↑ "The placement of people on our flag "was a bad idea" – Former PM Manuel Esquivel". Amandala. 5 June 2015.
  19. ↑ Pitt, David; Times, Special To the New York (27 October 1985). "BELIZE WARILY CONSIDERS MARIJUANA HERBICIDE". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  20. ↑ "Sir Manuel Puts NEAB in Check". Tropical Vision Limited. 21 August 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  21. ↑ "Yes to the ICJ: by Manuel Esquivel". Amandala Newspaper. 2 March 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  22. ↑ "Vaccination Rollout Really Kicks Off; Former PM Esquivel Gets Vaccinated". Great Belize Television. 10 March 2021. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  23. ↑ Manuel Esquivel profile, belize.com. Accessed 27 December 2022.
  24. 1 2 "Sir Manuel Esquivel passes". Amandala Newspaper. 12 February 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  25. ↑ "Esquivels give Barrow migraine!". Amandala Newspaper. 18 March 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  26. ↑ "Summer 2019 COBEC Conference" (PDF). Consortium for Belize Educational Cooperation. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  27. ↑ "Former Prime Minister injured in accident". Great Belize Television. 30 March 2009. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  28. ↑ Ali, Marion (29 July 2021). "Prime Minister Manuel Esquivel Biography Released". Great Belize Television. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  29. ↑ "Former Belize PM, Sir Manuel Esquivel, has died". Loop News. 11 February 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  30. ↑ Flowers, Benjamin (10 February 2022). "Former Prime Minister Right Honourable Sir Manuel Esquivel passes". BreakingBelizeNews.com. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  31. ↑ "Privy Council members". Privy Council. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  32. ↑ "Belizean Biographies". Belize National Library Service and Information System (BNLSIS). Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  33. ↑ "No. 59289". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2009. p. 41.
  34. ↑ Cayetano, Isani (12 November 2021). "Ten Belize City Streets are Renamed After Prominent Belizeans". Great Belize Television. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  35. ↑ Alvarez, Vejea (10 November 2021). "Belize City Council Renames Two Belize City Streets". LOVE FM (Belize).
  36. ↑ "New Buildings and Roads to be Named after Belizean Patriots". Great Belize Television. 23 September 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
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