Mahler Says There Was No Revolt in Cabinet

Anthony Mahler

According to Mahler, blame for the signing of the divisive agreement which provides, among other benefits, a tax holiday for Port of Magical Belize should be placed squarely at the feet of the former U.D.P. government.

Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism

“When it was presented to Cabinet, it was based on a timing issue, no cynical… I saw the document the day before, the night before and I raised some concerns in Cabinet and there were other members around the table that raised some concerns.  The P.M. raised his concerns and we decided collectively that we should put that on hold.  So we haven’t done anything wrong, we’re just going through due process.  The UDP who signed the Definitive Agreement and outlined all those concessions, the UDP is to blame.  Erwin Contreras is to blame and I believe that Erwin Contreras signed all the other Definitive Agreements.  I haven’t seen them but I believe he was the one who signed those as Minister of Economic Development.  He was the second most powerful minister in Cabinet other than the prime minister.”

Marion Ali

“What course of action do you think should happen…”

Anthony Mahler

“Well, I’ll leave that to the professionals. There was no revolt.  There was a sober discussion, I, line by line, in the areas, in the sections that I saw that were scandalous, I, you could say I destroyed it.  But that is, that was done by the previous administration.  So if you’re a country of rule of law, you have to go through due process to see if these things are legally binding.  When you get legal opinions on anything, it takes time and so this process is just a week, a week and a half from where we are now.”