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Jules Vasquez
"He will give you 21 days. Then after that he will take it to the streets."

Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"Well, I am certainly prepared to make a statement on PetroCaribe tomorrow. It's not escape my attention that there has been an unrelenting campaign over the last week and I am now learning that it continues into this week. So, I will make a statement. Prepare for a long press conference, because there are so very many issues to address. But I can say from now, that there is not a chance in hell that there will be any repeal of the PetroCaribe loans act."

Jules Vasquez
"Even if the social partners and the Opposition galvanized?"

Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"In my view the bi-election in January and the municipal elections in March constituted a kind of referendum on PetroCaribe and as far as I recollect we won those referendums resoundingly."

Reporter
"That is before all these issues surfaced though."

Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"It is a program that I don't care what they say. It's transparent. Everybody can see what the benefits are. See how the money is being spent. But their desperation has been aided a degree of legitimate misunderstanding about what the act does. I am happy to engage with anyone at any time. That is my obligation and I am happy personally to do any explaining, offer any explanation, clarification that might be necessary. I am prepared to contemplate one or two things that I will talk about again tomorrow at a press conference - that might help to ease the dis-quite of those that are part of the campaign, but that are genuine and well-intentioned. In so far as the opposition is concerned, it is clearly a self-serving political agenda, which I understand, but which I absolutely reject and I will close by saying once more, there is not going to be any turning back with respect to PetroCaribe."

Jules Vasquez
"The Leader of the Opposition says that simply you've made the provisions in the law, he says, to escape criminal charges - criminal prosecution for criminal mis-deeds."

Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"Man, that is so outrageous, I won't bother to dignify it with a response."

Reporter
"Do you continue to maintain that the government did not know or could not know way beforehand the loan amounts, even though it has surfaced that promissory notes had to be issued at the beginning."

Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"Promissory note for each shipment. If you are talking about that we needed to get prior approval from the House to enter into the PetroCaribe arrangement which is now declared to be a loan agreement. How would we know beforehand how much we are going to borrow? How do we know beforehand what we are going to get throughout the life of the program? It changes from month to month, depending on various things: the price, depending on how much fuel you import. So to say that we sign a promissory note with respect to each shipment - that has nothing to do with what it is claimed ought to have happen under the Finance and Audit Act, at the start of the program. What are you going to do now when in deed we can pay for the oil by way of sugar or citrus? How are you going to fit into the Finance and Audit Act if we hadn't change the law? It just could not work."

Reporter
"What about a board to decide who or what projects are approved and having representation of different civil society along with government?"

Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"I've just said we won the election in 2012. We won the bi-election in this year, in January and we won the municipal elections handily. Standing conventional wisdom - that is why we were elected to government. They talk about going to the streets. The only reason I will not tell you today about the UDP is going to the streets is because I don't want to be confrontational. They are the opposition as I say. I certainly can see right through them and I believe most people can as well. They want to have their protest and their demonstration. They are free in a democracy and I don't expect that by telling them that in the end it will be pointless that will stop them, but I do say it's going to be absolutely pointless. There will be no turning back from PetroCaribe."

We'll have more political news from the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition later on.