Protesters Call for Mendez’s Resignation

As we told you earlier, there was a small U.D.P. demonstration in which protesters called for the resignation of Dr. Marco Tulio Mendez. Interestingly, they didn’t do it in front of the court or Police Station, or even in front of Mendez’s home. They did it in front of the Orange Walk Town Council. Now we’ve already established that Mendez is not obligated, legally, to step down. But these protesters, and U.D.P. Orange Walk East caretaker Elodio Aragon Junior, believe that he has a moral obligation to do so. News Five spoke to Aragon this morning and asked him why he’s so adamant on that course of action.

Elodio Aragon Jr.

Elodio Aragon Jr., U.D.P. Caretaker, OW East

“For two reasons. One of the first reasons is that he has already mentioned that he is not contesting the next general elections. That means that he is not doing and has never done anything for Orange Walk East. So he is not serving the best interest of the people of Orange Walk East. So in that light I ask him to resign for that. On the second reason and the most important reason, Mister Marco Tulio Mendez is not an ordinary citizen of this country. He is an honourable member of this House of Representatives and he represents the entire Orange Walk East constituency. And with this serious allegation—it is not an allegation of getting involved in a traffic accident—it is talking about having misconduct, to what degree I am not sure…sexual misconduct with children. And this is a serious allegation for any person much less that of a member of the honourable House of Representatives. And definitely I think if he has the best interest for the people of Orange Walk East, a pledge that he made way back when he ran and became the representative to serve this east with integrity, to serve this east with honor and for the people of Orange Walk East. Then he should do the right thing and step down. That is my position. I think that politically, his career is over. Definitely with this incident that is all over the news in terms of him, I do believe that he should do the right thing and step down. There is already a P.U.P. standard bearer in place so there is no reason why he should hold on longer and put the people of Orange Walk East at a disadvantage.”

Aragon’s position doesn’t come as a shocker. If Mendez resigns, that will force a by-election which means that possibly in a matter of weeks Aragon would have a real shot at a seat in the House. Of course, any by-election in Orange Walk will be a far cry from the one in Cayo North, but Aragon says bring it on, and he’ll bring in the seat.