4 B.P.P. Candidates and An Independent Samantha Carlos in OW Race

The nomination of the candidates for the Belize Progressive Party and one independent was held following the P.U.P.’s. The mood was subdued and there were no bells and whistles as the aspirants made their way to be officially nominated for Orange Walk North, East, South and Central. A total of thirteen candidates are contesting the four divisions, four from the P.U.P., U.D.P., B.P.P. and one independent.  It is a crowded field and in the following report, Duane Moody looks at the formalities in Orange Walk.

Duane Moody, Reporting

By midday, it was time for independents and third party candidates to get nominated. Although in this case there was no fanfare or mass gathering of supporters, they all entered with their six registered electors and original two-hundred-dollar receipt in hand to make their names official on the November fourth ballots. The Belize Progressive Party, who has in the past couple of weeks fielded thirty-one candidates to contest the 2015 election, has two newcomers to electoral politics in the running – Onofre Vellos for Orange Walk North  and Doctor Javier Reyes for Orange Walk East.

Javier Reyes

Dr. Javier Reyes, B.P.P. Candidate, OW East

“My vision is in that of prosperity and it should be prosperity in all the fields; for example, in health, in education, in agro industry…that we are supposed to be implementing policies whereby our great nation should be improving in all these aspects of life. For example, in the health we can do a lot; in agriculture; even in sports and as I mentioned to you even in the agro industry. There is much more that can be implemented and done. And that’s my vision—to have a community that is vibrant and is very competitive out there in the modern world of today.”

Onofre Vellos, B.P.P. Candidate Orange Walk North

“Well it feels like a big responsibility because you never know what can happen after you are nominated; that when you go to the polls, you might just win. And the feedback I’m getting today is that they are not happy with both parties and they have an alternative and that is the green party…the Belize Progressive Party.”

Onofre Vellos

Reporter

“What does Onofre Vellos bring to the table?”

Onofre Vellos

“I am bringing honesty. Corruption is one of the things that gets to me that even doesn’t matter what you do, it feels like you can’t do…you are impotent when you try fighting corruption. So if we can fight it from the root as a party, then we might be doing something for our beautiful Belize. OUT 01:12

Also throwing in his name into the mix is Phillip De La Fuente, who is no stranger to partisan politics. De La Fuente served back in 2009 under the U.D.P. as Orange Walk Town Mayor and now, he is seeking higher office. He is the B.P.P.’s candidate for Orange Walk Central and will compete against P.U.P.’s John Briceño and U.D.P.’s Denny Grijalva as area rep. But why not under the U.D.P.?

Phillip De La Fuente

Phillip De La Fuente, B.P.P. Candidate, OW Central

“I had approached the party on more than one occasion to offer myself to run under the red banner and I was denied. So I don’t want anybody to think that I am a traitor or I am leading them out into the cold. I am now leading them in a new direction and I know that this is a better direction that we are taking now.”

Reporter

“So those people who might want to vote for a new direction, as you’ve said just now, what kind of guarantees would they have that you will not go back to the party that you came from?”

Phillip De La Fuente

“Okay, alright. I can’t go back because to start with, their ideas are not like my ideas. Their ideas of development is giving people money right now and then keeping them poor for the rest of the five or four years or whatever. My idea has always been and this is where we have always been bucking. My idea is to help people when you can. When you are in government, help the people so when election time come around, they are willing and ready to assist you.”

But there will be a total of thirteen candidates that will contest the four divisions in the Orange Walk District. Independent candidate, Samantha Carlos is putting in her bid as area rep for the Orange Walk North division. She is going up against deputy prime minister and sitting area rep, Gaspar Vega, P.U.P. candidate Ramon Cervantes and B.P.P.’s Onofre Vellos. Carlos is one of two women running in Orange Walk and she is considered a rookie to politics. She, however, is not fazed by that and says that the people have been clamoring for a change.

Samatha Carlos

Samatha Carlos, Independent Candidate, OW North

“Nobody can feel the pinch or the hardships that we are going through like the people who are actually experiencing it and I have been experiencing it for years. I’ve walked in the community and I have seen everybody feeling the same pinch, feeling the same suffering. And I believe that it is a time for a change. This is a new era, this is a new generation where we need to invest in our youths, empower our women and we need to move forward with education; we need to bring education to them. So I can see where I can make progress in the community. I believe in community upliftment and I know that I can do it and so I have offered myself as a candidate to the people to show them that I am ordinary and that an ordinary person can stand in these races. And I am sure that I can be victorious and I am sure that I can do a lot for the community—with or without the money.”

Hipolito Bautista Senior was also officially nominated today as B.P.P.’s candidate for Orange Walk South. Duane Moody for News Five.