It’s been 25 days and counting, but the PUP says that by next week, they’ll have about 2000 signatures vetted for submission to the Governor General to formally launch a recall in Cayo Northeast.  And now, the opposition is embarking on another recall effort.  PUP Deputy Leader Julius Espat told us the decision has been made to launch a recall drive in Belize Rural North, that’s the home base of two-time UDP representative, the embattled Edmund Castro.

As has been widely reported, Castro is accused of taking bribes to facilitate visas for Chinese.  Alvorine Burgess says she paid him four hundred thousand dollars in bribes to facilitate 200 visas in five months.  Castro empathically denies her claim, saying he did write a generic letter of recommendation for five visa applications but claims that he never took a penny from her.  Castro’s attorney – who also happens to be the Prime Minister’s law partner, Rodwell Williams has initiated libel proceedings against Channel 5 and Alvorine Burgess.  

That is a matter for the courts, but PUP standard-bearer in Belize Rural North Arthur Saldivar says the legitimacy of Castro’s tenure as area rep. is a matter for the people of Belize Rural North.  This weekend, he is launching a drive to gather the 1500-plus signatures required to trigger a recall.  He told us more by phone this afternoon:

Arthur Saldivar - Launching Recall Effort in Belize Rural North (Via Telephone)
"It is the view of the constituents of the Rural North that Edmund Castro no longer holds for them the confidence that he represents the values or aspirations of the people. So, I have been urged by the constituents of the Rural North, and those who I represent, to launch a recall of Edmund Castro, based on the corruption for which he has been imputed to have been participating in."

Jules Vasquez
"How will you deploy people to get signatures, that sort of thing?"

Arthur Saldivar
"Well, we have a meeting scheduled for the constituency committee of the rural north and other interested persons who are of right mind to accomplish the task of collecting the 30% required. In our division, 30% would amount 1566 signatures."

Jules Vasquez
"Will you all be able to muster the number of required signatures within a reasonable time knowing the lay of the land? It's a very broad area, and people might feel reluctant to go against their Area Representative to sign, and put their picture."

Arthur Saldivar
"The main reason why we are sure that we can is because there has been a universal acceptance of the demise of the Government in that it is viewed that this Government no longer holds the confidence of the people across the board."

Jules Vasquez
"You said that he has gone below the - he no longer represents the values of the people of Belize Rural North. Perhaps, the people of Belize Rural North are not unaccustomed to represenatives being in immigration scandals because your sponsor in politics, and your predecessor for the PUP, Max Samuels, was mired in a very ugly one himself. And he won after that with a resounding margin of victory in the 2002 elections."

Arthur Saldivar
“Well, this is exactly the reason. I will say this; the people of Rural North appreciated the fact that the program at that time was a national, supported by the Government of Belize, and that Maxwell Samuels being named in it was only incidental to the universal program that the government was supporting at that time. They also knew that Maxwell Samuels personally did not do anything deliberately to bring himself or call his character into question."

Jules Vasquez
"We know that while you are portraying as a victim of history, in fact, he was involved in the commission of nationality irregularities, in so far as signing 25 passport applications for people who had never set foot in Belize."

Arthur Saldivar
"As far as I am aware, in relation to the nationality issues under the People's United Party, where they was an economic citizenship program, while that program was there, the Minister of Immigration was required to carry out his function as minister. And in so far as that was supported by the Government, there was nothing to do but to carry out his function as minister. However, Edmund Castro is not the Minister of Immigration. Edmund Castro is not a Immigration agent; certainly, these things cannot be countenanced in a person who we would want to have being called distinguished or honourable."

Jules Vasquez
"Do you think that people will take greater confidence in the entire prospect of a recall now that the PUP is driving toward multiple recalls, and obviously, if 2 UDP representatives are recall, then the state of play changes?"

Arthur Saldivar
"It is incumbent on the party to afford itself and the people that opportunity."

For the record, the PUP’s Max Samuels had his largest margin of victory at the polls in Belize Rural North in 2003 after a comparable immigration scandal.  Castro’s margin of victory in 2012 was over 500 votes – compared to Elvin Penner who won by only 17 votes.

Saldivar says that at this point he has no specific timeline for gathering the required 30% of signatures.  He intends to bring in support from Cayo Northeast to collect 2000 signatures.  Deputy Party Leader Julius Espat told us in that division the Party has collected more than 1900 signatures and still has volunteers working to gather more. Presently, those 1900 signatures are going through a formal vetting process.  For context, we note that the Ashcroft-Allied Friends of Belize collected, vetted and presented twenty thousand signatures within a month in 2011 when it was trying to trigger a referendum against the Ninth Amendment.