And while buying back Belize's expensive commercial debt, with concessionary debt is a proposition that is hard to argue with, he's not about to win over the opposition. They disagree fundamentally with the way the borrowing bypasses parliament – and today, while Barrow was praising Petrocaribe inside, outside, the PUP was pouring scorn on it with a hastily organised protest. They went to work in front of the Biltmore – and 7News was there:

Daniel Ortiz Reporting….

Police officers restricted traffic on the road in front of the Biltmore Plaza Hotel by setting up a checkpoint and a barrier.

The Biltmore compound was also secured by officers who restricted access to the hotel. They were responding to intelligence which said that the PUP intended to stage a protest outside the Prime Minister's press conference.

UDP supporters and contract officers were granted entrance without much difficulty while everyone else, well… They had to prove that they had a legitimate purpose to enter the compound, or else, they would be barred. Police were determined to keep order and didn't want agitators or persons who would disrupt the press conference to go in.

A small handful of UDP supporters were brought in, and they chose to go behind the police barrier waiting, for what seemed to be an over-reaction from law enforcement.

Then, they arrived… a crowd of PUP supporters led by area representatives, standard bearers and the Leader of Opposition. We put their number at initially at 180, but at its height, when Lake I Standard Bearer Cordel Hyde arrived, was about 210. Still, they did catch the ruling UDP off-guard, and managed to put almost 5 times more bodies on the ground for their demonstration.

Traffic was slowed by this direct action, forcing police to adjust the flow to accommodate the PUP's March. But, what was its purpose? Well, the Opposition Leader will not let up on the condemnation of the Petrocaribe Loans Act

Hon. Francis Fonseca – Leader of the Opposition

"it is a good law for Mr. Barrow, but it is a very bad and dangerous law for Belize. It is a law that strikes the very heart of governance in Belize. It is a law that strikes at the democracy of Belize. And it is not only PUP that is saying that, the churches have said it, the chamber of commerce have said it, civil society has said it. The national trade union congress of Belize has said it. All of us are saying that this is a bad law for Belize, it must be repealed. And so today, we're taking advantage of the opportunity that Mr. Barrow is having a press conference to bring this matter to light, to bring it to the attention of the Belizean people."

Hon. John Briceno – PUP Area Rep, OW Central

"It is almost like when you're saying, we are all in a march and everybody is marching right and only you are going left and you're going to look around and say, all those people are wrong and I am the only one who is correct. The government need to sit back, reflect and look at this petrocaribe act and to realise that thousands of people across the length and breathe of this country are having serious concerns."

Jason Andrews – PUP, Standard Bearer, Belmopan

"Each day I get calls from people within Belmopan and I'm sure it's country wide - where kids cannot continue in school because they can't afford the school fees, they can't afford school books. They cannot afford the transportation to go. The health system needs to be revised and revamped country wide. If we had any sense, we would invest in our health system, we would invest in our education, we would invest in trying to create economic viability for new employment for people in this country. But yet today, this government has spent millions and millions of dollars and we have almost 50% of our people living in poverty."

Cordel Hyde – PUP Standard Bearer, Lake I

"With this new petrocaribe act, there's no audit. There has been no audit of spending. They said they spend 13 million dollars on social support and community assistance. What social support and community assistance are we talking about? Have we accounted for that? We don't know. They can say they have done anything but we don't know. We didn't elect gods when there was election. We elected men, mare mortals. People make mistakes, people commit sins, Dean Barrow is not god - his cabinet ministers are not disciples, they're ordinary men."

Orlando Habet – PUP Standard Bearer, Cayo Northeast

"In Cayo Northeast, we have not felt the impact of the monies he have spent to date. And we are questioning, when will we be able to feel that impact? If he spends another 500 million dollars."

""Do you truly believe that this will accomplish anything?"

Hon. Francis Fonseca – Leader of the Opposition

"Well, we will see, it is the beginning and we hope that reason will prevail."

The protesters marched for just over an hour and a half before dispersing.