And former Deputy Prime Minister John Briceno also weighed in on the Venezuela issue today. He was one of the first to publicly say that he opposed using public funds to pay off Universal’s private debt. That’s why he resigned from a senior Cabinet post in June of 2007. And now that even greater grotesqueries have ensued, he says he feels, simply, betrayed.
John Briceno,
“When I was informed yesterday that another ten million U.S. was used, I was appalled and I think it was disgraceful for the government then to use not only ten million or twenty million Belize but to use $40 million of the Belizean public’s money to bail out a private institution.”
Jules Vasquez,
Did you feel ashamed to be associated with the administration that did those things?
John Briceno,
“I certainly felt betrayed especially when you look back. One of the checks, as was pointed out on television yesterday, I think $6 million was paid out in September. That was just after a hurricane in Corozal. I am sure that the then Deputy Prime Minister Vildo Marin could have used that money to help his people in Corozal. Maybe he should be asked how does he feel about that because he was there and they needed that money and there are hundreds of houses that were destroyed, hundreds of families who cane fields were destroyed, the papaya industry, more than 50% of the papaya industry was destroyed – so there were a lot of people without their jobs. This money could have been used to help the people of Corozal and also the people of Orange Walk after the hurricane. But yet our leaders decided that it was more important to bail out a private institution.”
