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Jules Vasquez
"Are you able to say anything about the standing of Minister John Saldivar as the Minister of National Security when it appears that there was a very significant relationship which was a beneficial relationship for at least Mr. Saldivar's sports team? Is he in good standing in your cabinet right now as the Minister of National Security?"

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"Let me be absolutely clear, I accept that the optics of this situation is bad. Moving beyond optics though, I have not been provided with any material to suggest that any minister did anything that could be considered improper from the point of view from the bar of impropriety that would oblige the sort of action you asked about. The acquaintanceship, the association, especially through this Bandits football team, which it appears Mr. Mason was some sort of a part owner or co-sponsor. That association has as events now turn out. That association has ad extremely worrying ramifications implications for Minister Saldivar. It may well call into question the fact that he did not discover sooner than he did that Mr. Mason was not what he represented himself to be and that is the sort of thing for which he is paying a huge political price, question of his ministry a part. That is the sort of thing for which my administration is paying a huge political price. But I repeat that's as of now I have not been provided with any material that would cause me to feel that a summary decision must be made with respect. I'll come right not and answer your question squarely with respect to the removal of John Saldivar from the cabinet. We have not reach that point from this juncture."

Jules Vasquez
"If it appears that a partnership existed and if in deed there is evidence that the relationship continued after what Mr. Saldivar put as the 2015 cutoff - if the relationship persisted - at what point will it appear that a minister of your government was involve in some type of relationship, perhaps a partnership in which the proceeds of scams or shakedowns that Mr. Mason has been informally accused of. I'm sure you've heard the anecdotal reports of various persons in the Belmopan area who supposedly have been taken in and have paid the price. At what point will your minister be painted with that same stick of receiving those proceeds and perhaps using them in pursuit of the interest of his sports team?"

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"You've asked one very concrete question; the minister has told us that immediately upon discovering that Mr. Mason was at the very least a conman, he terminated his relationship with Mr. Mason and he tells us that this happened in September. Now you say supposed it is discovered that in fact the relationship continued beyond September, well that would require a conversation between the Minister and me. I don't know if it turns out that the relationship was terminated a few days or a week or so after the month of September. Well, we might say the minister's memory was not pinpoint accurate. If it turns out that the minister was still in a business or sporting - sports association with Mr. Mason well after September, then certainly there would be an explanation that I would require from the minister."

Jules Vasquez
"And the proceeds of any nefarious activities being harnessed by that sports enterprise?"

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"I have conceded squarely from day one, that in terms of the optics, this association looks bad and is bedeviling the minister and bedeviling this administration. But I have to insist, as a matter of fair play, everybody is entitled to our insistence on due process. Mr. Mason has not been charged in connection with any of the scams that we all believe and know anecdotally at least he was running. In that sort of a context, how on earth am I going to conclude in a way that would meet the required threshold in the context of corruption in public life, the statutory regulations and requirements - that sort of thing. How am I going to conclude that Mr. Mason's contributions to the Belmopan Bandits team owned by Minister Saldivar were contributions derived from illicit activities. I can mightily suspect that, I can feel pretty certain in my own mind that that was at the very least a likelihood, but that could not be sufficient to taint the minister with respect to any criminal brush or any brush of corruption."

Jules Vasquez
"Would you accept however that the threshold in the court of public opinion which is the court that as a politician, as a public leader, you have to parlaying as well, that the standard of the court of public opinion is much lower than it is in a judicial court?"

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"Absolutely and I have to be very careful in treating with that. I must respect the court of public opinion. I must not however be a sort of unthinking slave to the court of public opinion. I have conceded that in terms of the court of public opinion, the minister and the government are taking a licking. That in itself is a serious form of punishment. You people know me. You think I am comfortable sitting at this table, sitting as the head of the administration in circumstances such as these. But I repeat, If I am to dismiss somebody from my cabinet, I will need rather more than is currently available. Even though I accept that what is currently available, is wreaking havoc on the minister. Wreaking havoc on the administration politically. But I have to follow my own conscience, my sense of what is right and my own definition of balance. I have to try to hold the scales even, but as of now, at this particular juncture, whatever continuing public opinion blows this causes me to have to absorb. I insist the threshold to be able to say that the minister is guilty of corruption or criminal collusion has not been reached."

Reporter
"Have you been given some though to perhaps starting your own investigation asking questions to find out exactly if there is corruption within your cabinet and to what levels?"

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"We are always on the lookout for corruption and again...one thing I am not, is a hypocrite - of course there is corruption in government. There has always been corruption in government, there will always be corruption in government. It is my job to try and ensure that I do all I can to keep corruption at a minimum, to try to eliminate it, which really is perhaps wishful thinking. But certainly once there is a shred of real evidence of corruption on the part of any member of my cabinet, to make sure that I act as I have acted in the past and I would leave it there."

"Listen, I am not here to defend any minister who may be guilty of anything in terms the threshold and standard that I earlier referred to and if there is any evidence to be had in that regard, I would like to have it. And if I can in fact come into possession of that sort of evidence, you can take it to the bank that I will act absolutely."

So while the Prime Minister says he would act on any evidence of wrongdoing by his ministers - would he be willing to look at evidence if it was brought to him by William Danny Mason? Mason has asked to have a sitdown with Barrow - an offer which the PM today dismissed out of hand:...

Reporter
"Mr. Mason has allegedly sent out a request. We saw it on the media last night that he is seeking an audience with you, because he is saying that he has evidence, he has video evidence, he has video recordings..."

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"Is he trying to set up an insanity defence? Because that's an insane request."

Reporter
"For the record, you will not contemplate...?"

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"Absolutely not. You must know that. That cannot be.... this man is charged for murder. I am going to go sit with him where? They will bring him out of jail? You will send me at the jail to go see him? I am sorry sir, that is out of the question. That strikes me as utterly bizarre, in what is already a bizarre string of circumstances. I will have no part of that."