Five Mayoral Candidates in Belmopan
While San Pedro has three mayoral candidates, the battle for mayorship of Belmopan is between five candidates, including two independent nominees. On Wednesday, those candidates officially signed up to participate in the March fourth elections. Lost in all the fanfare on Nomination Day was the registration of Wilfredo Guerrero, an elderly resident, who is making his foray into electoral politics. Amid the noise outside of the Belmopan Civic Center, he quietly entered the building in the company of two witnesses and put down his name. According to Guerrero, the time has come for the Garden City to see an independent candidate take office.
Wilfredo Guerrero, Independent Mayoral Candidate, Belmopan
“This is my country and I have been here since the inception of Belmopan almost and I don’t see any progress and I have hoped that other people would bring this progress but I felt that I am just about almost finished and I noh sih nothing soh I haftu get in and do something, right.”
Isani Cayetano
“Since you decided to run for electoral politics, what has it been like in terms of campaigning and covering the necessary grounds in order for you to secure the votes of the Belmopan residents on March fourth?”
Wilfredo Guerrero
“Well I am not running a traditional campaign, I am using a campaign where science and engineering will come into play and I plan to do some walking around and to target and visit targeted people but I don’t have all this noise and all this music and all that, right.”
Isani Cayetano
“What’s your sense of confidence based on either a mandate or an overall vision that you have to share with the electorate here in Belmopan?”
Wilfredo Guerrero
“Actually the role of a mayor is to show leadership and in certain areas, he has responsibility in certain areas and I don’t see any of these guys, either past or present, have those qualifications. On the other hand, I am an experience engineer, I have all these subjects that we deal with in a city, I have experience in those things and I want to make a vibrant city council bureaucracy or staff. I think they need to go back to the principles of they know what they have to do and they do it without interference. I am tired of this interference by politicians and victimization and all those things, I think people are tired of that too. So I want to change it and I can change it just by my experience that I have had.”