Mark Espat had been serving as PUP’s interim leader since Briceño relinquished the party post almost two weeks ago.

Espat has already been endorsed by all but one constituency, however, he told party officials the demands on him are too much to lead the 61-year-old institution at this time.

According to media reports, the interim leader has not been able to secure financing for a multi-million dollar plan for party operations ahead of the next general elections.

The party owes BZD$5 million dollars, reports indicated, and requires an additional $10 million.

Espat stated in a release: “I informed members of the National Executive and the Standard Bearers of the People’s United Party of my final decision not to seek the post of Party Leader. I am profoundly grateful for the numerous expressions of support for my leadership from Standard Bearers, party branches, party members and from the general citizenry of Belize.

“…Working along with our Deputy Leaders and National Executive and in conformity with our Constitution, the Party will proceed with the election of a substantive Party Leader in the shortest possible timeframe.”

This is said to be the first time in Belize’s parliamentary history that a leader of the opposition has stepped down with no immediate successor in place.

Price died at the Belize Healthcare Partners Hospital in Belize City, said a grand nephew, Henry Charles Usher. He was hospitalized Wednesday after a fall at his Belize City home and put in a medically induced coma following surgery to remove a blood clot.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow declared a week of mourning lasting until Sept. 26.

Price was Belize’s first leader when it became independent from Britain on Sept. 21, 1981. As head of the centrist People’s United Party, he served two terms as prime minister, in 1981-84 and 1989-1993, and is considered the father of the Caribbean country of about 300,000 people that borders Mexico and Guatemala.

Belize is on the Central American mainland but maintains closer cultural ties with other English-speaking former British colonies in the Caribbean than with its Spanish-speaking neighbors.

In a message broadcast to the nation, the current prime minister called Price “a giant of a man, the greatest architect of Belizean nationalism and Belizean sovereignty.”

The government and Price’s family planned a state funeral for next Monday, Barrow said. Until then, flags in Belize will be flown at half staff, except for Independence Day on Wednesday.

“On behalf of a grateful nation to which Mr. Price devoted his entire life, I offer condolences to his immediate and extended family and to the People’s United Party,” Barrow said.

On 8 June, the government of Belize, through the Ministry of Sports, informed the FFB that it was “not authorized to represent this Country in any local or international competition or in any other forum for football on behalf of the Government, People and Nation of Belize”, since it had “failed to meet the requirements for registration with the Council, as the National body for the administration of football in Belize”, according to the Ministry.

Two days later, FIFA wrote to the FFB to inform them that this was a clear case of governmental interference and gave the FFB until 30 June to settle the dispute or be referred to the FIFA Emergency Committee for suspension due to a violation of the FIFA Statutes. However, the Belize government wrote to FIFA on 16 June saying the Belize police would “not be providing any services to the Federation with respect to the security of the visiting team and officials at the match” to be played on 19 June.

Under these circumstances, and due to the interference of the government of Belize, FIFA cannot take the responsibility of letting the match take place. The match has therefore been postponed to a new date to be confirmed, but no later than 10 July 2011, provided that the situation is back to normal regarding the FFB and the suspension has been lifted by that date. In the event that the match cannot take place by that date, the national “A” team of Belize will be excluded from the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ preliminary competition.

The suspension will be in place until the Belize government reverses its decision. Any action taken by the government against the office-bearers of the FFB will not be recognised by FIFA.

Further information from:

FIFA Media Department – Tel.: +41-43/222 7272, Fax: +41-43/222 7373, E-mail: media@fifa.org

FIFA COMMUNICATIONS & PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIVISION / Zurich, 17 June 2011

The first-leg match in the preliminary round for the CONCACAF region kicked off a sequence of 832 games to decide the 31 teams that will join host Brazil at the next World Cup.

Montserrat was the host, but because the 202nd-ranked team in the world did not have a venue that meets international standards, the match was played at Ato Boldon Stadium in Trinidad.

The swirling controversy involving suspended CONCACAF president Jack Warner and the Caribbean Football Union was no distraction, and coaches Kenny Dyer of Montserrat and Jose de la Plaza Herrera of Belize said it had no impact on their preparations.

Warner, a FIFA vice president, is banned from soccer activities pending an investigation by the FIFA Ethics Committee and was not at the match. He and then-FIFA presidential candidate Mohammed Bin Hammam of Qatar are alleged to have been involved in bribing union officials at a meeting in Port of Spain during campaigning for the election.

Montserrat, devastated when the Soufriere Hills volcano erupted in 1995 and forced two-thirds of the population to leave, has never won a match or played on home ground in three previous World Cup qualifying campaigns.

It was 1-1 at halftime after MacCauly opened the scoring with a powerful right-foot strike from a right-wing cross in the 27th minute for Belize, and Jaylee Hodgson scored an equalizer in the 44th minute for Montserrat.

In front of a crowd of about three dozen people, Belize went ahead 3-1 with goals from Harrison Roches in the 49th and Elroy Kuylen in the 53rd before MacCauly completed his hat trick in driving rain with goals in the 75th and 83rd minutes.

Hodgson scored a consolation goal from close range in the 86th.

Dyer was hopeful of recalling leading players Benjamin Manning and Clifford Joseph for the return match at Belmopan, Belize, on Sunday after both missed the loss in Trinidad.

“We are very disappointed … not so much that we lost, but that we allowed two silly goals in the second half,” he said. “We are going to have to attack Belize in the return game.”

The Garifuna Settlement Day festivities began at 12 noon on November 14th and stretched into the night, drawing a crowd of 1,500 people or who joined the Garifuna community in getting a jump on the official holiday, which falls on November 19 each year.

A cross-section of local talent joined in lauding the local Garifunas, who are descended from African slaves who took up residence off the coast of Central American when the ship carrying them to the New World crashed near St. Vincent Island back in the 17th century. The Garifuna retained their own language and society for decades, and were eventually resettled on the mainland of Central America.

The Settlement Day festival marks the migration of many Garifuna who fled a civil war in Honduras in the early 1800s. They landed on the shores of what is now known as Dangriga in southern Belize on November 19, 1832.  Belize remains the main center of the Garifuna population, but members of the ethnic group have shifted over the years and mixed with indigenous Central American peoples. The Garifuna now count significant populations in Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua. A Garifuna diaspora has also led to significant numbers of the group in Miami and New York along with Los Angeles.

South Los Angeles became a common first stop for many of the Garifuna who came to the U.S., and it remains a touchstone and cultural center for them.

The recent celebration in South Los Angeles saw the John Canoe Dancers dazzle the crowd and the Sound City band play non-stop punta music as celebrants feasted on an appetizing aroma of their native foods and strolled among stalls of art and handmade crafts.

“It meant a lot to get together and celebrate with the community,” said Ira Lino, who is a member of the Garifuna Cultural group organizing committee.

Michael Simpliss, a Garifuna from Belize who set up as arts and crafts vendor during the event, said the crowd was very enthusiastic. He noted that his native country recognizes Garifuna Settlement Day as a national holiday, adding that the local crowd showed a spirit worthy of the event.

“People came together to celebrate this cultural event,” Simpliss said. “As a Belizean, I appreciate that Belize has a National holiday and that we came together on this great day.”

Lino commended the president of the Garifuna committee, Roland Castillo, for his great work of 35 years and for holding the organization together. He also credited Martha Martinez as the matriarch of the Garifuna culture in Los Angeles, and thanked her for her efforts to keep the culture alive.

Garifuna Settlement Day was founded by Thomas Vincent Ramos in Belize in 1941. The government of Belize established a national holiday to mark the event in the early 1970s.

In Los Angeles, the Garifuna Cultural Group funds the annual Settlement Day celebration with proceeds from local bus rides, cook-outs and donations from various supporters.