One of the newcomers who Andrews and Saldivar are criticizing as a token candidate is Michelle Rodriguez. She's Belmopan born and bred, but in political circles is probably best known for being Melvin Hulse's significant other, and not much known at all as a frontline PUP. Today we met her on the campaign trail in Salvapan and asked her about her candidacy:…
Jules Vasquez
"I've not known you to be involved in politics. What are you doing in a political contest?"
Michelle Rodriguez - PUP Convention Candidate, Belmopan
"Well Jules I'm tired of the people being ignored, I worked with the community with my women's group and I've seen the need out there and now that my children are older I have decided to you know what, I'm going to get involved, it's time to get involved and I think that a women have a heart, more of a heart than a man but definitely I think that I have a lot to give. I have a lot of free time as well so the people have me as their servant."
Jules Vasquez
"How will an unknown hope to make a quite large division, the largest numerical in the country, how will an unknown make inroads and emerge victorious in a convention that only weeks away?"
Michelle Rodriguez
"Yeah Jules you know I have a good team and my team is getting bigger as people realize that as I said I've been through my work with the women's group, I've been involved with the community and also my work with the church. We reach out to hundreds of people so they know my face, they don't know me politically but they do know my face as a worker, as a servant."
Jules Vasquez
"Your common law husband is Melvin Hulse and Melvin, if you would meet 10 people, all 10 will tell you that Melvin is a big UDP, former UDP minister, multi-term representative. So how can you then be a PUP candidate if your husband is a big UDP?"
Michelle Rodriguez
"Jules I am my own person, I have my own ideas but also I was born into a PUP family, always been PUP and I've never been a member of any other party but the PUP."
Jules Vasquez
"The public perception might be that you are not a bonafide PUP because you share a life, you share a bed with a big ole UDP, that's how people see it and second when he was a UDP minister, although you don't live in Stann Creek West, you had to support the UDP machine."
Michelle Rodriguez
"Yes, and that's called loyalty right and I'm loyal to the PUP. As I said I've never ever written or signed on to any party until I signed on to the PUP."
Jules Vasquez
"The disgruntled person who weren't allowed to run have said that the whole thing is a setup, set up for Mr. Mira to ascend and that you and Mr. Wiezsman are tokens."
Michelle Rodriguez
"I am not a person that has been intimately involved in not just Belmopan but in the Cayo district. I've worked with several different groups and I'm still the president of our international women's group here who have done a ton of work within this community. So the people know and my church, I work with them, I work with the people and they know me, they know my face you know. They don't know me as a political person but they are going to get to know me. They are tired of the same old politicians, they are tired of the same old promises and those are empty promises. No one has asked the people what do you need and that's how I'm coming to them, what do you need and how can I be of service."
Jules Vasquez
"Mr. Mira has run this area before or has contested a convention for this area before and he widely seen those in the PUP widely view him as a good candidate, a clean candidate former military man. What type of campaign will you run against him knowing that he's running on the same platform as you; clean and fresh."
Michelle Rodriguez
"With Mr. Mira he lost right? Yes, so well I think that I have the upper hand in that, I haven't lost yet."
The convention is on July first.
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