7/29/2019 The Betrayal of BAM

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The betrayal of BAM

BELIZE CITY, Friday, April 3, 1981

On behalf of the community, AMANDALA hereby calls for an official inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death on

Tuesday night of Corporal George Pete Matthews, 34, one of Belizes greatest musicians.

Pete, a brother beloved in the city, was shot in the mouth at the Central Police Station after 10 Tuesday night. How

and by whom remains a mystery.

- pg. 1, Amandala, Friday, April 3, 1981

BELIZE CITY, Mon. April 27, 1981

Soccorro Bobadilla, 17, fiery, buxom youth leader, has been expelled from the Belize Technical College following her refusal to

give an assurance to the school that she will observe proper conduct both in and out of uniform.

By proper conduct the authorities apparently meant that she was to give apologies for speaking on the BAM

rostrum during the March 17-April 2 disturbances and to promise not to do so again.

- pg. 5, Amandala, Thurs. April 30, 1981

It is sad, though not surprising, how the leaders of the ruling UDP have chosen to mark what is the thirtieth anniversary of the Heads

of Agreement uprising and the political independence of Belize. Both events took place in 1981, the uprising in late March and early

April, and our independence on September 21. The UDP have chosen to ignore the rebellion against the Heads of Agreement by the

people of Belize, and concentrate everything on independence. This, to our mind, constitutes a betrayal of the Belize Action

Movement (BAM).

The BAM leaders were Odinga Lumumba, Wilfredo Shubu Brown, Rodwell Pinks, Kenworth Tillett, Sam

Rhaburn, and Leroy Panting. The unlikely star of the uprising was a Belize Technical College student by the name of Soccorro

Bobadilla. A few years ago, Soccorro disappeared on the way from Los Angeles through Texas to Belize by road, and she has not

been heard from since. Lumumba, Brown and Pinks are deceased. Leroy Panting is in the United States. Kenworth Tillett is

employed with the ruling UDP. Sam Rhaburn is an accountant who was elected a UDP area representative for Belize Rural North in

1984, and again in 1989. In 1991, he joined Hon. Philip Goldsons NABR group, but soon returned to the UDP. Rhaburn was

a Cabinet Minister in the 19841989 UDP administration.

One reason it would have been important to mark the Heads of Agreement uprising is that in Belize we have not been paying proper

respect to our roots heroes. Another reason we needed to have done this was because it is vital that our people remain fully

conscious, and the younger ones be well informed, where the text and nature of the Heads of Agreement are concerned.

When the Margaret Thatcher government of Great Britain and the Ronald Reagan government of the United States produced the

Heads of Agreement for the government of Belize to sign as a prerequisite for independence, the PUP, led by Hon. George Price,

were in power in Belize. The UDP had been shattered by a stunning defeat in the 1979 general elections. BAM was a spontaneous,

roots movement whose most charismatic personalities were Odinga, Kenworth and Soccorro. It was BAM which led the fight

against the Heads of Agreement in Belize City.

In Corozal Town, a shotgun blast which came from a group of pro-independence PUP marchers, killed Sylvino Riveroll on

Thursday, April 2, 1981. As a result of that murder, the Governor of Belize, James Hennessey, immediately declared a state of

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7/29/2019 The Betrayal of BAM

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