PROFILBARU.COM

Theodore Aranda
Theodore Aranda
Leader of the Opposition
	In office; 21 September 1981 – December 1982
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor General	Dame Elmira Minita Gordon
Prime Minister	George Cadle Price
Preceded by	(office established)
Succeeded by	Curl Thompson
Member of the Belize House of Representatives for Dangriga
	In office; 27 August 1998 – 5 March 2003
Preceded by	Russell Garcia
Succeeded by	Sylvia Flores
Member of the Belize House of Representatives for Dangriga
	In office; 4 September 1989 – 30 June 1993
Preceded by	Simeon Sampson
Succeeded by	Russell Garcia
Member of the Belize House of Representatives for Dangriga
	In office; 21 November 1979 – 14 December 1984
Preceded by	Paul Guerrero
Succeeded by	Simeon Sampson
Personal details
Born	Theodore Roosevelt Aranda; 1934; Stann Creek Town, British Honduras; (now Dangriga, Belize)
Died	July 2022 (aged 87–88); Belize
Political party	People's United Party (after 1984); Christian Democratic Party (1983–1984); United Democratic Party (until 1983)
Residence	Dangriga
Alma mater	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Theodore Roosevelt "Ted" Aranda (1934 – July 2022)^[1] was a Belizean politician and Garifuna 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.^[1]^[2] He worked with the Belizean branch of the CARE organization. In 1974, he joined the newly formed United Democratic Party and quickly rose up the ranks. In 1979, he was one of the five representatives elected for the UDP, representing the Dangriga constituency. He was elected UDP leader as the previous leader, Dean Lindo, was defeated for re-election in the Fort George constituency. After a stormy stint as the country's first post-independence Leader of the Opposition, 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 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 and re-captured the Dangriga seat as its candidate in 1989. Russell "Chiste" Garcia 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 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, a body claiming to represent Garinagu across the world and in Belize, though the official Belizean body is the National Garifuna Council.

Aranda had been at odds with younger members of the Garinagu population.

Death

He died in July 2022.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b Aranda, Theodore Roosevelt (1967). The Arts in Education (M.A. Thesis). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. OCLC 501084491.
^ Aranda, Theodore Roosevelt (1971). Thorstein Veblen on Education (Ph.D. Thesis). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. hdl:2142/62519. OCLC 223412813.
^ Humes, Aaron (10 July 2022). "Former United Democratic Party leader turned PUP parliamentarian Dr Theodore Aranda dies". Breaking Belize News. Retrieved 10 July 2022.