Minister Garcia on Sexual Harassment Allegation: “I Do Not Condone Wrongdoing of Any Sort”

Dolores Balderamos-Garcia

As we mentioned earlier, the U.D.P. has also called on the police department to conduct an immediate, transparent investigation into this matter, with a view to charging him criminally and prosecuting him once there is sufficient evidence against him. The release states in part that “Oftentimes, those in high positions assume that the laws of Belize do not apply to them because of the position they hold. We remind Minister Perez that being a person in one of the highest positions in Belize means he has a responsibility to all citizens on both professional and private matters. We note that this accusation, initially made by his victim, prompted Minister Perez to accuse his alleged victim of blackmail and that while he admitted to having had a relationship with his accuser, he claims the relationship was consensual. Today, Minister of Human Development, Families and Indigenous People’s Affairs, Dolores Balderamos-Garcia said that personally, she does not condone any kind of wrongdoing, but that the matter should be discussed on all levels of the political spectrum.

Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, Minister of Human Development, Families and Indigenous People’s Affairs

“Let me state my personal position and this is not in consultation with anybody, Marion. I do not condone wrongdoing of any sort. Whether it is rudeness, whether it is sexual misconduct, whether it is deceitfulness, I will never, ever stand on the side of supporting wrongdoing. Certainly, I do not condone the terrible misbehavior of the Leader of the Opposition and his rudeness to the Speaker of the House, right? Similarly, I do not condone sexual misconduct of any sort. Now, for me to go further at this point would be difficult. I would prefer to reserve further comment because we’re talking about allegations. We’re talking about the possible going to court off individuals on either side. We’re talking about complaint off misconduct of an attorney, for example. So I don’t want to get into the back and forth of what those specific allegations are right now. I would prefer to reserve further comment, but I can tell you that there will be discussions among the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus. So, there will be such discussions, and I hope that those discussions can be frank and free, but that we look at both sides of the equation, if I can call it that – both sides of the political spectrum and all sides of the political spectrum because we must include our social partner parliamentarians as well in the discussion, but that is about as far as I will go right now.”