Last night, we showed you all of the politicians who have been nominated for 10 of the 31 electoral divisions. There are 88 of them hoping for success at the polls in the November 11th General Elections. Tonight, we take a look at the candidates who are running in the divisions of Belize Rural North, Belize Rural Central, Belize Rural South, Corozal Bay, and Corozal North.
Daniel Ortiz has that story:
In the Belize Rural North Constituency, voters in all those villages get to choose from 3 candidates.
Incumbent Area Rep., Edmond Castro, is defending his seat, and already, the 3-term parliamentarian is comfortably predicting that he'll win his 4th consecutive general election.
He is being challenged by Marconi Leal, the PUP candidate who is making his first run in a general election. His party says, however, that he is a veteran in Belizean politics; he has served as campaign manager for a number of candidates in the past.
The third candidate that rural north voters have to consider is Karen Sharon Banner, a grassroots politician who has emerged for the Belize Progressive Party.
In Belize Rural Central, All 4 of the political parties are offering candidates. Beverly Williams, the UDP Incumbent, is back to ask electors to return her to office for a second term.
The PUP's Dolores Balderamos-Garcia, who won the area in 2012, is back to challenge Williams for a second time - after losing by just 58 votes in 2015.
The BPP's green is represented being in Belize Rural Central by their candidate Lion Bennett.
The final candidate in this division is Luz Hunter, and she's repping the other Alternative Party in pink, the Belize People's Front. She comes from a tourism and conservation background.
In Belize Rural South, there are 3 candidates to choose from. By far, the most experienced UDP incumbent Manuel Heredia Jr., who is looking to one-up his colleague, "Clear Di Land" Castro, by winning his fifth consecutive general election in that division.
Heredia is challenged by the PUP's Abner "Andre" Perez. Although this is his first General Election, Perez is no stranger to politics. His slate lost by a narrow margin in the 2018 municipal elections. He was running for mayor then, and in 2 weeks' time, he will run for Area Rep.
The third candidate in Rural South is in the Belize People's Front's standard-bearer, Thomas Greenwood Jr. - an unknown on the public stage, but the son and namesake of cruise industry activist Tom Greenwood Sr.
Going North, in Corozal Bay, there are 3 candidates who are contesting the elections in that division. The incumbent Pablo Marin is pursuing his 4th consecutive term as the area representative.
Since that unfortunate incident in he had to shoot and killed an armed burglar in self-defense, the usually media-friendly Marin has kept a low public profile, as he continues to campaign in Corozal Bay.
He's being challenged for his seat by the PUP's David "Dido" Vega, a career educator, who ran and lost as the PUP's Mayoral Candidate in 2015, and in 2020, he's seeking higher office in this marginal seat.
The third candidate in Corozal Bay is an independent, Carlos Javier Sawers. In Corozal North, there are also 3 candidates seeking to become that division's Area Rep.
The strongest of the 3 is Deputy Prime Minister Hugo Patt, who is attempting to win his 3rd term as a parliamentarian. Patt's first challenger is PUP's David Castillo- who lost to Patt in 2015 - but is the son of the former rep Valdemar, who held down the division for 30 years for the PUP
The final Candidate for Corozal North is the Belize People's Front's Alfonso Acosta, a retired teacher from Cristo Rey Village.
Tomorrow, we'll continue this series where we'll examine the candidates who are running in the other Corozal constituencies, as well as several of the Orange Walk divisions.
