Leader of Opposition Reflects on ‘Chendo’ Urbina

Rosendo “Chendo” Urbina

An official funeral service was held at La Inmaculada Church today for former Ambassador Rosendo “Chendo” Urbina, who was laid to rest in Orange Walk.  Urbina, the founder of the A and R chain of stores and former politician passed away last Thursday. His contributions to his hometown of Orange Walk have been praised by colleagues across political lines. P.U.P. Party Leader John Briceño, a former student of Urbina, fondly remembered him.

John Briceño

John Briceño, Leader of Opposition

“Mr. Rosendo Urbina, I refer to him as ‘maestro,’ he was my teacher. You know when you are in school you have one of those teachers who impact you the most? He was one of those persons. When we were in second form, I remember one day at school he went to my house. He used to live in San Lazaro and I always have that memory of him and the impact he had on me while I was in high school. Also, he supported a lot of the work that I did as the area representative, until 2008 when he decided to run for the UDP. But despite all of that, the relationship that he and I had we did not allow that to sully the personal relationship that he and I built over so many years. He was a great teacher. He was an excellent businessman, along with his family. He was a humanitarian. He was always helping schools, churches and people. That was a part of Chendo Urbina that a lot of people are not aware of, of which I am aware. I take the opportunity to extend my condolences to Mrs. Tomaza and his children. I visited him last month and we had a good talk and little did I know that he would have gone so quickly. We are going to miss him. We wish the family well and may he rest in peace.”