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He’s running for leader of the PUP, but Francis Fonseca doesn’t like being called the status quo candidate, or a favorite of the PUP’s old guard. But if you have your cousin Ralph Fonseca in your camp and Said Musa’s son, Yasser in your corner, that’s what you’re gonna get. But today in a statement announcing his candidacy for leader, Fonseca declared that he embraces reform: first, he agrees with Mark Espat and Cordel Hyde that the list of delegates’ names should be publicized well in advance of the convention, and he also agrees with the reformers that the party’s delegate system needs adjusting – but differs on a timetable.

In fact, Fonseca’s statement includes no timetable for any of those things – which may be one of the symptoms of the man who wants the best of both worlds but really only dwells politically in one. In fact today, this former Minister who was the go to guy in the last Musa Cabinet told us that when he signed the secret Universal guarantee and then subsequently the secret loan note – he was just doing his job. Here’s more from his conversation with Jules Vasquez.

Jules Vasquez,
How serious can you really be about what you call meaningful change when you are perceived and labeled as the candidate of the status quo and in fact you are most closely associated with the leadership tandem of Said Musa and Ralph Fonseca who most say are responsible for the PUP’s worst defeat in its history?

Hon. Francis Fonseca, Candidate for PUP Leader
“Well I was a Minister of government in the Said Musa Cabinet. I was and am Chairman of the PUP so I have to accept responsibility as well as others in the party for our defeat and I accept that readily. But in terms of the status quo, this charge of being a part of the status quo, part of the establishment, everyday you hear a new name - old guard – I am prepared to make my case to the Belizean people as I am doing to the delegates of the PUP. People who have worked with me, who know me, understand that I am deeply committed to change and reform.

In the running of my own Ministries as a Minister of government, I challenge anyone to suggest that Francis Fonseca did not run those Ministries with the greatest sense of accountability, the greatest sense of transparency, the greatest sense of integrity. I challenge anyone to say otherwise and to show proof otherwise. In terms of Freetown, my own constituency, I have won two elections in Freetown. The last election on February 7th, against a red tsunami that some would call it, against the great red tide, and I did so because I was able to prove to the people of Freetown, I built and established a relationship with them, they know that I stand for the good for the people of Belize. They know that I am my own man, I am independent.

Yes in terms of a Minister’s role in government, in terms of duties and responsibilities as a Cabinet Minister, I understand that very clearly. I have my say in the Cabinet but at the end of the day, when a decision is taken, I will support that decision.”

Jules Vasquez,
But Mr. Fonseca how can you speak about transparency? You were the one handpicked by the Prime Minister to sign, first a secret guarantee, and then the subsequent loan note.

Hon. Francis Fonseca,
“Well you sound like…that’s the campaign of course that my opponents will make about me. Let’s be very clear about the UHS matter Jules. First of all at all times I was operating in absolute good faith as it related to that matter. I genuinely believed that as a government we should do everything possible to ensure that that facility did not fail. And in terms of signing, please you all want to make me out to be the primary signator of that agreement. The Attorney General is as he does very often, witnesses the signature of the Minister of Finance. That is what I was called upon to do, to witness the signature of the Minister of Finance and that is what I did as I do with many legal agreements that the government has.

But I am not backing away from that, I am prepared to confront that issue as I did at the time. I went out, I did not hide, I went out and I explained my position to the people of Belize. I went on radio shows and I talked to the Belizean people about my decision. I talked to the people in Freetown about my decision. So it was a decision made in good faith and again like every other decision we make, you can look back at it and say that in retrospect looking back it was perhaps not a good decision, we should have done things differently. And in fact you know at the end of the day we listened to the Belizean people and at the end of the day taxpayer dollars were not used to settle that matter. But Francis Fonseca’s involvement with that matter was done in absolute good faith and with absolutely no taint of corruption or any other ulterior motive as it relates to that matter.”

Jules Vasquez,
But Mr. Fonseca two weeks before the election you told me that taxpayers’ funds weren’t going to be used when the Prime Minister later was forced to disclose that we were paying $300,000 a month and two weeks before you said that to your knowledge taxpayers’ funds were not being used?

Hon. Francis Fonseca,
“Absolutely to my knowledge I knew nothing about that matter and I still don’t know the terms of that settlement.”

Jules Vasquez,
Sir the Prime Minister was keeping secrets from you then?

Hon. Francis Fonseca,
“Well you can call it what you want, ‘keeping secrets from me,’ I am saying to you as I said then – I did not know anything about the terms of that settlement. So there was a settlement of the debt, I don’t know the arrangement that was worked out with the hospital in terms of a monthly payment.”

Jules Vasquez,
Mr. Fonseca you inherited in 1998 a division where you had a margin of 72%, you are now down to 49% - you’re not even at 50%. How can the leader of the PUP be a candidate who does not even control the majority of the votes in his division?

Hon. Francis Fonseca,
“Well I think whenever you are in government obviously there is a swing against the incumbent and so all across the country, you can look at divisions all across the country, in fact you can look at every other candidate who is running for leadership of the PUP and you can see that there has been a tremendous decrease in terms of their majority control of their division. But the point is Jules that I have won that division twice. This last time, as you rightly pointed out, our margin decreased but we decreased at a time when everybody else was losing. So I think that speaks volumes about my relationship with the people and I have absolutely every confidence that I will continue to win that constituency and do so decisively in the future. At this time, this particular election, obviously there were many other factors that contributed to our loss as a party and that affected me in Freetown but I am very confident that I enjoy the trust and confidence of the great majority of people in Freetown.

The PUP has always looked to a servant to lead it and I want to be that servant, not only for my party, but for our country because I understand the tremendous challenges that we will face. So I am in it for the long haul, deeply committed to working everybody, anybody who is prepared to work with me. I want to make that absolutely clear. I am prepared to work with John Briceno, I am prepared to work with Mark Espat – anyone who is prepared to join me in this process of rebuilding our party and re-energizing our party. It will require all of us and it is not going to be about Francis Fonseca or one and two other individuals leading the PUP, it will have to be a team effort; inclusive leadership - that is the central theme of my campaign.”

Jules Vasquez,
I am certain you are aware of the flap over this supposedly US$10 million which was not received by the government but was given by the Venezuelans. First of all as a member of the Cabinet inner circle, who always seem to be in on the know of things, did you know that the Venezuela money was US$20 million?

Hon. Francis Fonseca,
“Absolutely not and I still don’t know that, you are suggesting that and others but as the release from government that came out at the time made it absolutely clear that it was US$10 million and I have absolutely no other information to say otherwise.”

Jules Vasquez,
Do you think you will suffer any backlash from this, being that it was negotiated by your cousin Ralph Fonseca and your name is still Francis Fonseca?

Hon. Francis Fonseca,
“Backlash about what? I have just said to you I have no other information to say that what the government said at the time, it was US$10 million, that that is still the case. If there is an investigation or inquiry going on into it let us see what happens. But there is no other information to suggest that that is otherwise.”

Jules Vasquez,
Would you accept that being named Fonseca and asking outwardly, not internally, outwardly for support might be a tough pill for people to swallow?

Hon. Francis Fonseca,
“Well it depends on which Fonseca you call. Please I come from a family of tremendous public service Jules. My father was a teacher who taught all over this country, he spent many years in rural Toledo teaching the Maya Indians. He retired as Chief Education Officer earning a salary of $900 a month. His brother Rafael Fonseca was the Financial Secretary of this country for many years under George Price. I dare say both men have impeccable reputations, men of integrity across the board. You ask PUPs, UDPs, anybody – and I believe Francis Fonseca is of the same character. I challenge, as I said before, anyone to suggest that I was involved in anything corrupt during the PUP’s term in office 2003 to 2008. There is no evidence that I was involved in anything corrupt and I challenge anyone to prove otherwise or say otherwise. So I feel very proud about where I’ve come from. Now of course I wish I could be half the man that those men were, I am not saying that I am, but I am proud of my name, I am proud of my family. Yes we’ve had challenges, some would say the younger ones are not as good and bright as the older ones, that is true of every family I imagine, but all of us have our baggage to carry.

Jules as you pointed out in 1998, people in my party might not want me to use this example, but in 1998 Dean Barrow, when the UDP lost and he became leader, he won his seat by 47 votes in Queen’s Square, almost lost his seat. He had the baggage of the Esquivel era and it was tremendous baggage, VAT and all these things, he had to build his own credibility, he had to build his own brand of leadership and that is the challenge of any leader and I accept that challenge. I challenge that I will have to go out and prove myself to the Belizean people.”

In his bid for leader, Fonseca has also resigned as party Chairman. And he leaves a lot of correspondence for his successor to answer. Standard bearer for Collet Carolyn Trench Sandiford wrote to Fonseca as Chairman on February 20th declaring that the special convention for March 31st.and last Friday’s nomination were both wholly unconstitutional. The letter makes what seems to us to be a compelling and correct argument but we couldn’t engage Fonseca on it because he told us that he had not seen the letter.