And that opinion Fonseca referred to is from Trinidadian King's Counsel Douglas Mendez. We have been calling for its to be made public - and government did so today in a press release carping about, quote, "defamatory video ads being broadcasted by various media stations, along with news reports and commentaries by UDP political operatives, spreading gross misinformation and falsehoods concerning certain members of Cabinet and its deliberations on the matter of the Portico Agreement executed under the former UDP Administration." That's a lot! But Government says that's why it is releasing the Mendez opinion because, quote, "it was on the basis of the advice of Mr. Mendes that the Cabinet paper concerning the UDP Portico Agreement, and the accompanying draft bill, was prepared and presented to Cabinet in the form that was submitted." End quote, We note there was no mention of the Mendez report in the May 16th Cabinet memorandum.
We'll have a full unpacking of the opinion on Monday but we can tell you a few basic facts. It is dated May 04th, two weeks after the Juratowich opinion and it was prepared in response to it - basically Mendes was asked whether he agreed with Juratwoich who found the agreement illegal and unenforceable.
Mostly, Mendez didn't agree with Juratowich. He found that Erwin Contreras did have the authority to sign the agreement. Also, government seemed to indicate to him that it was preparing to ratify the agreement. Notably also the legal opinion was addressed to the Prime Minister, not the Attorney General. You can read the whole thing at a link you'll find at 7newsbelize.com or our Facebook page.
