Antonio Soberanis Gómez (January 14, 1897 – April 14, 1975) was a Belize

Belize

Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...

an labour activist, regarded as the father of the Belizean labour movement. He founded the Labourers and Unemployed Association in 1934 to demand poverty relief work and a minimum wage. He was jailed for sedition

Sedition

In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...

in 1935.

Personal life

Antonio Soberanis was born to Mexican parents in the village of San Antonio – Rio Hondo. He attended Holy Redeemer Boy’s School and thereafter became a barber. His barber shop, “The Panama Barbershop” originally located on Handyside Steeet and then Queen Street in Belize City, hosted many political discussions of the time until it was boycotted in 1932 due to his political activities. He fathered ten children and was married once; first to Violet Garbutt.

Message of Unity

Antonio “Tony” Soberanis can be called the father of Belizean Nationalism as this small man of humble origins stood up for the unemployed and poor of the day. His message was one of unity regardless of ethnic background and for a country free of orgasims. His political activities began during the depression following the 1931 hurricane. He held public meetings at the Battlefield Park, talking about the unfair treatment of laborers by the Government. He organized pickets and boycotts against merchant houses such as; B.E.C., John Harley and Co., Hofius and Hildebrant, Melhado and Sons and Brodie’s. He opposed the feeding program organized by the colonial government which served rice “lab” and bread cooked in the same copper pots that were used for washing the officer’s clothes. In its place, he operated a feeding program of his own and organized a team called the Red and Green Nurses also known as the Black Cross Nurses which gave free medical treatment. Nurses Vivian Seay and Cleopatra White ( the great grandmother of Courtney Cherrington (b.1992) and Delia Cherrington (b.1995)) worked closely with this team to offer medical care.

Member

He was a member of the Unemployed Brigade and then leader of the Labor and Unemployed Association (LUA) along with his friends; John Neal, James Barnett, James and Henry Middleton, the Lahoodie brothers, Gabriel Adderly, Alfred Hall, and Benjamin Reneau.

Days of the LUA

The decline of mahogany, the Great Depression and Hurricane 1931 created terrible living conditions for the working class in the colony around 1934-35. An organization called the Unemployed Brigade demonstrated for more work and better pay, but after meeting with the Governor of the day, all that was granted to them were 80 more jobs for the 1800 unemployed and a feeding program of badly cooked rice (rice lab) and bread cooked in the washing pots. The leaders of the Unemployed Brigade gave up hope and resigned, but not Antonio Salasar. Tony, as he was affectionately known, called the leaders cowards and said that he would continue the cause and that he was not afraid to die. He said, “I’d rather be a dead hero than a living coward”. With his colleagues (John Neal, James Barnett, James and Henry Middleton, the Lahoodie brothers, Archibald Lodge, Chano Lovell, Gabriel Adderly, Alfred Hall and Benjamin Reneau) he formed the Labor and Unemployed Association, organized many boycotts, demonstrations and pickets against large merchants such as; the B.E.C. (Belize Estate and Produce Company), John Harley and Co., Hofius and Hilderbrant, Melhado and Sons, and Brodies. They held weekly meetings at the Battlefield Park where Tony campaigned for work for the unemployed and spoke against the Government referring to them as "crooks" because they neglected the colony while they were living rich. He criticized the feeding program and referred to the large merchants stores as bloodsuckers. He took his message all over the country, even in Dangriga to the dock workers. Some of the demonstrations turned into riots and, because of his rhetoric, he was arrested and charged with sedition and had to pay a fine of $25. Tony Soberanis spent a month in jail when he went to post bail for the demonstrators following one of the riots. Their efforts did yield some good results; the wages of the dock workers was raised from 8 cents to 25 cents, more men were employed to work on the Northern Highway following the receipt of a ¼ million dollars grant and partial representation was granted to the elected officers in the Legislative Council.
The LUA operated their own feeding program by organizing fund raising activities and collecting gifts from some sympathizers that were not followers. In this way they were said to have fed about
3000 people. They operated a medical wing called the Red and Green Nurses, headed by Cristobel Usher, which later became known as the Black Cross Nurses, which dispensed free medical care to the people.

Ending of the LUA

The LUA movement was short lived as there was a split in the leadership and they wasted their time talking against each other. Antonio’s political activities continued up until 1942 when he went to work on the construction of the Panama Canal. In 1950 the movement handed over their political followers to the newly formed People’s committee now the People’s United Party and Antonio became a councilor of the party.
At the age of 78, Soberanis died on Friday April 14, 1975 and was buried at his farm in Santana Village. One can argue whether he was a National Hero or a great patriot but there is no doubt that the role he played paved the way for a national movement.