Antonio Soberanis Gómez
Antonio Soberanis Gómez (January 14, 1897 – April 14, 1975) was an activist in the Belizean labour movement. He founded the Labour and Unemployed Association in 1934 to demand poverty relief work and a minimum wage. He was jailed for sedition in 1935.
Antonio Soberanis was born to Mexican parents in the Belizean village of San Antonio Rio Hondo in Orange Walk. His family had move to Belize in 1894. He attended Holy Redeemer boys' school in Belize City and thereafter became a barber. He owned "The Panama Barbershop," originally located on Handyside Street and then Queen Street in Belize City, which hosted many political discussions until it was boycotted in 1932 due to his political activities. He fathered thirteen children and was married twice, first to Violet Garbutt.
The decline of the mahogany trade, the Great Depression and the 1931 hurricane created terrible living conditions for the working class in British Honduras around 1934-35. An organization called the Unemployed Brigade demonstrated for more work and better pay, but after meeting with colonial Governor Harold Baxter Kittermaster, all that was granted to them were 80 more jobs for the 1,800 registered unemployed and a feeding program of "rice lab" (a porridge of sugar and boiled rice) and bread cooked in the washing pots. The leaders of the Unemployed Brigade gave up hope and resigned, but Soberanis called the leaders cowards. He said that he would continue fighting for the cause and that he was not afraid to die. In his most famous quote, he said, "I'd rather be a dead hero than a living coward." With his colleagues he formed the Labor and Unemployed Association (LUA) which organized many boycotts, demonstrations and pickets against large merchants such as the B.E.C. (Belize Estate and Produce Company), John Harley and Co., Hofius and Hilderbrant, Melhado and Sons, and Brodies. The LUA held large demonstrations at the Battlefield Park, directly in front of the courthouse. At the meetings Soberanis campaigned for work for the unemployed and spoke against the Government. He also traveled to Dangriga and Corozal Town to encourage support for the cause of higher wages outside Belize City.
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