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So what accounts for the reversal? That's what we asked him today at his office in Belmopan:..

Hon. Julius Espat, PUP Cayo South Representative
"It was a decision based on principle. It was a decision when you have needy people in your constituency and so it was a balancing act trying to weigh the positive and the negative. But at the end I consulted with my local executive, the Cayo South executive, I spoke to each one of them. I called in our village leaders and I spoke to some of the villagers and then I spoke to my friends, my advisors and my family - that's how we normally do things in Cayo South. Before I make a decision we try to consult as best as possible. At the end of the day everybody agreed that we have to stand what we are fighting against and so at that point it was an easy decision for me. It coincided with what I originally thought. I was leaning towards accepting it originally. Once that decision was made I went to see the Party Leader and I explain to him what my problem was and at the end of the day I got his approval and his blessing to do so which to me continues to inspire me to have him as our leader. It inspires me to know that he believes in democracy. He believes that we can have differences of opinion and not sticking at that old status quo that what the boss says you have to do."

"At the original meeting of the national executive, there were 3 people that had objections that objected for us to accept the money and Party Leader was one, he believe that we shouldn't have accepted the money originally. That's why the interview with you that's what he had been saying. Everybody knew where I stood on it and that was clear from the beginning and Honorable Dolores Balderamos had also voiced her objection to receiving the funds. But before the meeting started the Party Leader made it clear, this is what I personally feel, but I want to run this party and I want to run the future government of this country in true democratic form and so he say we will abide by the decision of the majority."

So then, how is he going to assist for the resident of those 13 villages in his constituency? Well, he told us that he went around asking for donations in Cayo South and they've managed to come up with close to what he would have gotten from the Christmas Cheer program:

Hon. Julius Espat
"The problem with Cayo South is similar to other constituencies. Our people are suffering. The 14 area representatives that represent the opposition party get practically nothing from government resources to be able to help. So of course anything that signals to them that they will get less is not a happy scenario. But before I made the decision, I made sure that I went out to seek financing from the same Cayo South people, from my executive, from friends of Cayo South and people that believe in us and so we have been able to get sufficient financing for them not to be affected. Again, that's one of the thing that weigh on us to be able to make this decision. We are now prepared to go out and do what we have done before with or without the PetroCaribe stuff."

Daniel Ortiz
"The resources that you have amassed to compensate for not participating in the Christmas Cheer, is it enough to deal with....?"

Hon. Julius Espat
"It is never enough because I really don't believe in giving that much. Christmas is a special time and I understand that children are in need, so we spend a lot more on toys. But I believe that our resources should be used for other things that are more of helping community as we have been doing in Cayo South."

Daniel Ortiz
"But is it comparable to what you would have gotten?"

Hon. Julius Espat
"Yes, it is comparable."

In our last interview with the Prime Minister, you heard how he explained that any area representative asking for cash is against the rules. He condemned Julius Espat last year for making just such a request last year. So, today, we asked him about that. He says that the Prime Minister is deliberately mis-stating the facts. Here's how he explained his version of how that exchange went:

Hon. Julius Espat
"The real story is about this time last year I was chopping grass in front of my house when the Prime Minister passed on a Saturday in the vehicle and lowering the windows and said Merry Christmas Honorable and I said Merry Christmas Prime Minister and then he says oh you know this year we will give you all $25,000 to help your constituency and I said thank you Prime Minister and I said by the way, I have already ordered a container of toys. Is it possible for me to get a reimbursement of what I have paid on that already, can that be part of the program and he says sure man, send your information to the financial secretary and we will look at it and see what we can do for you - thank you very much sir. That's how it went. So I did. I sent it in because I thought he was an honorable man and I sent in the information to the financial secretary and the financial secretary spoke back to me and said Mr. Espat, I receive your information, I think everything is in order, I think everything is fine. Lo and behold, two days later the Prime Minister goes on TV and say that I want to ask for money and lo and behold this year he repeated it again. It just shows you the double face that a prime minister has. It shows you that he utilizes every single action that he does for political purposes and I have lost respect for him because of that."

Espat's first Christmas party, financed from donations within Cayo South, happens tomorrow.