George Price receives Cuba’s highest honour

He cannot be very happy about the financial and political crises created by those who followed him in government, but over the weekend former Prime Minister and Father of Independence, George Price, had reason to smile. On Friday in Havana, Cuba, he was bestowed with that country’s highest honour, the Jose Marti Award. The official statement, which noted Belize’s support for the island nation, read in part:

“In an evening like tonight, Cuba cannot fail to mention its eternal appreciation to Belize and the rest of our Caribbean brothers for their steadfast position of respect and solidarity towards our country. Cuban children are and will always be at the total service of noble and self-sacrificing Caribbean patriots like you.”

While in Havana, Price met with fourteen Belizeans studying at the Latin American School of Medicine, as well as a larger cross section of other Belizean students at a gathering at the Belize Embassy. He returned to Belize on Saturday. Among those who have received the Jose Marti Award are South Africa’s Nelson Mandela and Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez. This is only George Price’s second visit to Cuba; the first took place in the early 1940’s when Price went on business for his employer R.S. Thurton.