Saldivar denies accusations of bribery
In political news, the case of Marconi Matus and his allegations of bribery by the U.D.P. have receded to the background while the political protagonists on both sides of the aisle have retreated to lick their real or imagined wounds. With Matus’ charges well documented and the flat denials of Manuel Esquivel and Salvador Fernandez equally recorded for posterity it was left only to party organizer John Saldivar to go on record with his opinion. Saldivar, it may be recalled, was accused by Matus of reaffirming the U.D.P.’s alleged offer of cash and land in a face to face meeting in Cayo. Not surprisingly Saldivar, interviewed on Thursday night’s “One On One with Dickie Bradley” says he has never met the man called Marconi.
John Salvivar, UDP Party Organizer
“First of all Dickie, I need to make it categorically clear that ahm, that I have never met, ahm. Mr. Matus.”
Q: “At all in your life?”
John Saldivar
“Never before in my life. As a matter of fact, that day when I heard him on the radio on the press conference I was in Belize City as I customarily am on Wednesdays and I went to a friend’s house just to look at the news – to see who was this Marconi Matus that was making these allegations. Ahm, I have never met the fellow. I don’t know how, how my mouth, my name ever got into his mouth. I have my ideas about what I think happened.”
Q: “You could share one with us?”
John Saldivar
“Basically I feel that, that Marconi had resigned as he had said from his People’s United Party for the personal problems that he was having in his town board and basically was trying to see, you know, who he would get the most out of… out of the P.U.P. or, or the U.D.P. and ahm, he fed the P.U.P.?s a story in an effort to see how much he could get out of them and couldn’t back down after he had told them the story. To make it credible he had to give names, he had to give dates, he had to give all these information which I believe he made up out of his mind and couldn’t take it back after the P.U.P.?s call his bluff.”
The full one hour interview airs on Channel Five Sunday morning at ten thirty and at various times on district stations.
