Sir Manuel Amadeo Esquivel (2 May 1940 – 10 February 2022) was a
Belize
Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
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
Belize City is the largest city in Belize and was once the capital of the former British Honduras. According to the 2010 census, Belize City has a population of 57,169 people in 16,162 households. It is at the mouth of the Haulover Creek, w ...
when it was the capital of the British Crown Colony of
British Honduras
British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973,
. He attended St John's College and later earned a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...
degree in
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
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).United Democratic Party Countrystudies.us. (accessed 10 October 2014) He was elected to the Belize City Council for two terms, and served as UDP chairman from 1976 to 1982. In the 1979 election, Esquivel was the UDP nominee for the
Belize House of Representatives
The House of Representatives of Belize is one of two chambers of the National Assembly, the other being the Senate. It was created under the 1981 constitution. Members are commonly called "Area Representatives."
Area Representatives are elect ...
in the
Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and po ...
constituency. He was defeated by the incumbent Premier of Belize
George Cadle Price
George Cadle Price, (15 January 191919 September 2011), was a Belizean statesman who served twice as the head of government of Belize from 1961–1984 and 1989–1993. He served as First Minister and Premier under British rule until inde ...
, leader of the
People's United Party
The People's United Party (PUP) is one of two major political parties in Belize. It is currently the governing party of Belize after success in the 2020 Belizean general election, winning a majority of 26 seats out of 31 in the Belizean House ...
(PUP).General Elections 1979 Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 13 February 2022) Esquivel was then appointed a minority member of the Belize Senate.EMBRACING History: Dr. Manuel Esquivel AmbergrisCaye.com. (accessed 9 October 2014) He defeated
Philip Goldson
Philip Stanley Wilberforce Goldson (25 July 1923 – 3 October 2001) was a Belizean newspaper editor, activist and politician. He served in the House of Representatives of Belize as member for the Albert constituency from 1965 to 1998 and twice a ...
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.
Esquivel was elected in December 1984 to the House of Representatives from the newly formed constituency of
Caribbean Shores
Caribbean Shores is an electoral constituency in the Belize District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2015 by Kareem Musa of the People's United Party.
Profile
The Caribbean Shores constituenc ...
in
Belize City
Belize City is the largest city in Belize and was once the capital of the former British Honduras. According to the 2010 census, Belize City has a population of 57,169 people in 16,162 households. It is at the mouth of the Haulover Creek, w ...
, becoming prime minister for the first time shortly thereafter.General Elections 1984 Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (archived 16 October 2014) The UDP's victory was the first time an opposition party had won since the introduction of universal suffrage in 1954. He held the seat until the 1998 election, in which he was defeated by the PUP's Jose Coye.General Elections 1998 Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 12 February 2022)
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
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...
(IMF). Upon becoming prime minister, Esquivel proceeded with economic reforms under the advice of domestic experts such as Edney Cain. Esquivel began moving the
economy of Belize
The economy of Belize is a small, essentially private enterprise economy that is based primarily on agriculture, tourism, and services. The cultivation of newly discovered oil in the town of Spanish Lookout has presented new prospects and problems ...
away from his predecessor's
mixed economy
A mixed economy is variously defined as an economic system blending elements of a market economy with elements of a planned economy, markets with state interventionism, or private enterprise with public enterprise. Common to all mixed economie ...
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...
. In his second term, he implemented unpopular austerity measures such as public sector retrenchment. His government suspended pay raises from 1995 to 1997, but transferred 450,000 shares of Belize Telecommunications to a trust for the affected workers. The opposition PUP dubbed Esquivel as "VATMAN" for introducing a 15%
value-added tax
A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the en ...
(VAT) in 1995. While Esquivel's successor
Said Musa
Said Wilbert Musa (, born 19 March 1944) is a Belizean lawyer and politician. He was the Prime Minister of Belize from 28 August 1998 to 8 February 2008.
Early life and education
Said Wilbert Musa was born in 1944 in San Ignacio in the Cayo D ...
repealed the VAT in 1999, Musa introduced a similar 10% goods and services tax (GST) in 2005.
After the UDP won the February 2008 election, Esquivel was appointed by Prime Minister
Dean Barrow
Dean Oliver Barrow, SC PC (born March 2, 1951) is a politician from Belize who served as prime minister of Belize from 2008 until 2020 and as leader of Belize's United Democratic Party.
An attorney by profession, Barrow served as Belize's ...
as senior advisor to government with the rank of minister on 12 February 2008. He was also appointed Chairman of the
Central Bank of Belize
The Central Bank of Belize is the central bank of Belize, established in 1982. In 2021 Gustavo Manuel Vasquez was chosen to serve as Governor, replacing A. Joy Grant, who had served in the role since 2016.
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
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
. Although his government had opposed cannabis trafficking, Esquivel expressed support for decriminalization of small amounts in 2017. He published an editorial in the ''
Amandala
''Amandala'' is a Belizean tabloid newspaper. Published twice weekly, it is Belize's largest newspaper. ''Amandala'' was established in 1969 as the print organ of the now-defunct United Black Association for Development (UBAD), but has been polit ...
Esquivel met his future wife, Kathleen Levy, while he was studying in Bristol. They wed in 1971 and had three children: David, Laura, and Ruth. 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), and Deputy Chief of Mission at the
Embassy of Belize in Washington, D.C.
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...
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.
Kathleen, Lady Esquivel, wrote a biography of Esquivel entitled ''Still Waters'', which was published in 2021. Esquivel died on 10 February 2022, at the age of 81.
2010 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 2010 were announced on 31 December 2009 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Barbados, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Saint Lucia, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Christopher and NevisSaint Christ ...
.
In 2021, the Belize City Council renamed an overpass after Esquivel. The coastal road connecting
Belize District
Belize District is a district of the nation of Belize. Its capital is Belize City.
Geography
Most of the Belize District is in the east central mainland of Belize; the Belize District also includes various offshore islands, including Amber ...
Politics of Belize
Politics of Belize takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic monarchy, whereby King Charles III serves as head of state and the prime minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power i ...