PM Says Leader of Opposition’s Statements are Outrageous

Dean Barrow

During an appearance in the media earlier today, Leader of the Opposition Francis Fonseca said that the stipulations within the Petrocaribe Loans Act were made by PM Barrow in order to avoid charges and court action for criminal wrongdoings.  While openly stating that he would not respond to the allegation, PM Barrow says that if Fonseca continues with that defamatory approach he may be forced to take legal action against him.

Reporter

“The Leader of the Opposition says that simply you’ve made the provisions in the law, he says, to simply escape criminal charges, criminal prosecution for criminal misdeeds.”

Prime Minister Dean Barrow

“Man that is so outrageous I wouldn’t bother to dignify it with a response.  Except, well I was going to say that if he pursues that line I might have to sue him for defamation of character but it is such an outrageous accusation to make that I don’t even think I would follow that line.  Not a soul in his or her right mind will buy that.  This was an arrangement, part of a bilateral and regional trading arrangement.  We went to the House since there is now a concession that it did constitute a loan of a peculiar nature, you might fault us for having gone to the House late, you were the person who caused all of them to get religion you know, because recollect that before that various entities, and I say this not to quarrel, were very much complicit in Petrocaribe spending, in helping to supervise Petrocaribe programs, in using the National Bank for a line of credit, for access to mortgage financing.  So nobody at that time was arguing that this was a loan but we give you your props, you made the point that it is in fact a loan and as I said right then, “Look there’s not going to be a quarrel because there’s nothing to hide.  So I will go to the House.”  It is only after we went to the House and passed the resolutions and in fact passed the Supplementary Appropriations Acts that detailed the spending, legitimized the spending, offered full transparency that the opposition made clear that it would not stop, it would still continue to try to derail Petrocaribe.”