Minister of Culture Reflects on Belize’s 42nd Birthday

Francis Fonseca

This year’s September celebrations are quickly coming to an end. One of the last major events on the calendar is the official ceremony to celebrate the forty-second anniversary of Belize’s independence. That event will be held in Belmopan tomorrow. When reporters caught up with Minister Francis Fonseca this morning in Belize City, he reflected on the nation’s progress since gaining independence forty-two years ago.  Here is what he told us.

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Culture

“I think every independence anniversary, every celebration of independence provides us collectively as a nation an opportunity to reflect on obviously where we have come from, the past. We pay tribute to those who have paved the way for us, those who have worked and fought for self government and independence, so we pay tribute to them. We can never forget those people and then it offers us an opportunity to reflect on where we are today. The present state of our union, of our nation and of course critically important is what our vision is for the future. It is past, present, future. That is the spirit of these celebrations as we go into Independence Day tomorrow. For me personally, it is one of the greatest days on our calendar for September celebrations personally, because that is the day Belize was born, free from colonial shackles, given an opportunity to grow and develop as an independent nation.”