Though he has been largely absent from Belize’s day-to-day political scene in recent months, Moses “Shyne” Barrow has made it clear that his interest in local politics remains very much alive. Barrow has re-entered the public debate with a pointed response to a press release circulated yesterday by the United Democratic Party (UDP), as internal tensions continue over the post of caretaker and elected representation for the Mesopotamia Division. The UDP’s release asserted that Barrow is neither the elected area representative nor the caretaker for Mesopotamia and holds no position in the National Assembly. Barrow, however, flatly disputes that position. In his response, he traced the origins of the current dispute back to July 14, 2024, referencing a separate political controversy involving Thea Garcia and Elvia “Elvi” Vega following the PUP Corozal Bay standard bearer convention. Barrow argued that in that instance, the People’s United Party followed proper and legal procedures to resolve the matter. By contrast, Barrow accused the UDP leadership of moving in the opposite direction, describing what he says is a drift toward a “dictatorship” style of leadership, where decisions are made unilaterally and imposed on the party. He called instead for a more democratic approach to resolve the Mesopotamia issue and unify the party. Barrow also labeled the UDP’s press release as factually incorrect, stating that Lee Mark Chang was never the standard bearer nor the caretaker for the Mesopotamia Division. He insisted that the required internal process, calling a Central Executive Meeting, securing Zone Coordination support, and conducting a formal vote, was never followed. According to Barrow, the actions taken by Opposition Leader Tracy Panton were illegal and unconstitutional under the party’s own rules.
Moses “Shyne” Barrow: “There is a difference between the elected member of the House and the duly endorsed caretaker from Mesopotamia and I point you no further than Thea Garcia and Elvia Vega-Samos when Miss Garcia defeated the sitting area representatives in a PUP internal convention thus became the standard bearer while Miss Vega-Samos continued to serve as the area representative. So that release was unnecessary. It was to me malicious and it totally undermines the premise of party unity. But I’ll have to tell you that I am extremely disappointed at the failure of the new party leader to be a woman, or I should say a person to her word, because when I was leader of the UDP these same people used to complain about press releases being sent out and that the press releases were written by me and not approved by the pertinent organs of the party. I am a member of the Central Executive of the United Democratic Party as the previous leader. No press release came to the Central Executive. I checked with the deputy leaders of the party. I checked with regional leaders of the party, and I asked them did they approve that, are they a part of a group that I am not a part of, were they called, were they consulted about such a press release, and they were shocked. And they were not happy because they have been insistent that the party cannot move forward without people such as myself being respected and being included and given the dignity and being treated with the decency that is required of any member of the party but certainly a party leader who served and gave his all for the last couple of years.”
Barrow’s intervention, despite his time away from the local political spotlight, underscores that he remains closely engaged in UDP internal affairs, particularly in Mesopotamia, and signals that the internal issues may be far from settled.
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