Theodore Roosevelt "Ted" Aranda (1934 – July 2022) was a Belizean politician and
Garifuna
The Garifuna people ( or ; pl. Garínagu in Garifuna) are a people of mixed free African and indigenous American ancestry that originated in the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent and speak Garifuna, an Arawakan language, and Vincentian ...
activist.
Education and UDP career
Aranda held an M.A. (1967) and a Ph.D. (1971) in Education from the
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...
. He worked with the Belizean branch of the
CARE
Care may refer to:
Organizations and projects
* CARE (New Zealand), Citizens Association for Racial Equality, a former New Zealand organisation
* CARE (relief agency), "Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere", an international aid and ...
Dangriga
Dangriga, formerly known as Stann Creek Town, is a town in southern Belize, located on the Caribbean coast at the mouth of the North Stann Creek River. It is the capital of Belize's Stann Creek District. Dangriga is served by the Dangriga Airpo ...
constituency. He was elected UDP leader as the previous leader,
Dean Lindo
Dean Russel Lindo (4 September 1932 – 17 September 2018) was a Belizean attorney and politician. He was one of the principal founders of the United Democratic Party in 1973 and served as its first leader from 1974 to 1979.Fort George constituency. After a stormy stint as the country's first post-independence
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
, Aranda was either ousted or resigned from the UDP leadership in late 1982, leaving the party entirely shortly thereafter.
Christian Democratic Party and move to the PUP
Aranda briefly revived the
Christian Democratic Party
__NOTOC__
Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...
in 1983 and unsuccessfully sought re-election in Dangriga under its banner in 1984, finishing third with 24.3 percent of the vote. He went on to join 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 ...
and re-captured the Dangriga seat as its candidate in 1989.
Russell "Chiste" Garcia
Russell may refer to:
People
* Russell (given name)
* Russell (surname)
* Lady Russell (disambiguation)
* Lord Russell (disambiguation)
Places Australia
*Russell, Australian Capital Territory
*Russell Island, Queensland (disambiguation)
**Ru ...
defeated him for the seat in 1993, but Aranda won a third non-consecutive term in 1998. He was not a candidate for re-election in 2003. Since Belize's 1981 independence from
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
Aranda was the only person to win election to the Belize House as a candidate for both the UDP and the PUP.
World Garifuna Organization
In 2000, Aranda formed the
World Garifuna Organization
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
, a body claiming to represent Garinagu across the world and in Belize, though the official Belizean body is the
National Garifuna Council
The National Garifuna Council (NGC) of Belize is a non-governmental organization that represents the Garifuna people of Belize. Their mission is to preserve, strengthen, and develop the Garifuna culture, as well as to promote economic development, ...
.
Aranda had been at odds with younger members of the Garinagu population.