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For Castro - who - since 2004 - has been the victim of a series of disturbing attacks on his personal and official property - this is one more strange event. He told us about the news of a fire he got at 1:00 am on Sunday:..

Hon. Edmund Castro, Cabanas Burnt
"When I came up with the police the fire engine was already here and 3 buildings were burning and we realized that it was an act of sabotage and it's clearly arson from the fact one building could not catch the other building because they are separate and apart. So it's clearly an act of arson here and I think it's purely political based on what had happened in the past with the killing of my sheep, the slaughtering of a hog's head on my desk."

Jules Vasquez
"Now you are making some broad accusations. You have no proof to support those accusations Mr. Castro."

Hon. Edmund Castro, Cabanas Burnt
"Well what we can do is the objective test. Find out what people would think based on the pattern and the history of their behavior. The objective test is what the common man would think. What would the common on the street believe happened here as a result of what was going on leading up to this? We must condemn this type of behavior and I know not just the residents of Belize Rural North but the entire country should condemn this type of behavior. This is an act of political nonsense, it's arson."

Indeed the layout of the area suggests that each cabana was individually set on fire, as they are a fair distance apart, and the condition of the surrounding area does not suggest that the fire jumped from one structure to the other.

Today, 60 hours after the fire, a mountain of fish feed was still burning from deep within. It might go on like this for another 5 days.

Hon. Edmund Castro, Cabanas Burnt
"Because of the nitrogen and so in the fish feed, the fire burns from underneath and it has been burning for the past 24 or more hours."

Jules Vasquez
"Even though you tried to douse it."

Hon. Edmund Castro, Cabanas Burnt
"Yes, the fire department did a very good job when they try to put out it but it was burning from underneath and then it flares right back up again and it had been burning since 1 o' clock Sunday morning."

Jules Vasquez
"How much longer will it burn?"

Hon. Edmund Castro, Cabanas Burnt
"This will take probably, at that pace, the rest of the week Jules maybe right into the weekend."

Jules Vasquez
"How much is the value of this heap right here; this particular heap?"

Hon. Edmund Castro, Cabanas Burnt
"This is about 10 tons of feed. 10 tons; that's over 20,000 pounds of feed times maybe $1 a pound, so just here is over $20,000.00 in fish feed."

The total losses between sacks of feed and the structures are in the tens of thousands of dollars

Hon. Edmund Castro, Cabanas Burnt
"In this building here had about 5-10 tons of feed and that's completely gone. the other 2 cabanas had less because we use to give away from the other 2 in the beginning so they had probably a ton or two in each one."

Nothing was insured, and it is a total loss - but not a loss of morale for this politician:

Jules Vasquez
"Are you being politically terrorized in your opinion and how does that influence your everyday activities or your activities going forward?"

Hon. Edmund Castro, Cabanas Burnt
"Well I think Jules that I've been down this road before. I remember like what I said even before I got elected back in 2003 when they came up against me with violence right at my house and slaughtered 20 odd sheep, I never backed down, It just made me stronger."

Patrick Jones, Love TV News
"What would you say if people would suggest that this is the handiwork of a politician seeking re-election meaning yourself?"

Hon. Edmund Castro, Cabanas Burnt
"I think its pure nonsense. I wouldn't kill my sheep; I wouldn't kill my puppy, i wouldn't burnt down the very feed that I use; the building that I use to house the feeds that I give to the people in the area. I wouldn't do that."

Castro still has many sacks of feed in the other cabanas - which he plans to donate - as judging from the condition of these tilapia ponds - he won't be needing anytime soon.

He built the Cabanas years ago as a model for property based tourism - but they later became storage sheds. Castro lives about a quarter mile away from the scene of the fire. No one has been detained.