It was one of the most exciting and nail-biting municipal elections in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, history as an entire county waited on the voting results for Belize Rural South. It took almost nine hours to get the results and for the United Democratic Party to claim victory for the third consecutive term with Mayoral candidate Daniel Guerrero at the head of the UDP Red Team.
It was a super close race for the seven seats in office of the San Pedro Town Council as the People’s United Party (PUP) narrowed the gap significantly. Daniel Guerrero managed to take the Mayoral seat with only 38 more votes than Andre Perez. New PUP councilor candidates like Diane Aranda, Dina Graniel and Ruben Navidad performed exceptionally well, receiving high voters’ support.
The well-oiled machinery of the PUP gave the opposition a good fight and shook them off their feet. The UDP seemed to have felt reasonably comfortable going into election day, but even Daniel Guerrero seemed taken by surprise from the results.
“I am very thankful to the people of San Pedro…even though it was a very close race, but it remained red and we just have to focus on our people and make it stronger for the next election,” commented Daniel Guerrero as he stepped out victorious from the polling station.
“I knew we would make it but never expected it to be that close…There are certain factors out there that we have to pay attention and learn from our mistakes and come back strong again like we are; like the UDP.”
Hon. Manuel Heredia, UDP Area Representative for Belize Rural South stated that this was a wake up call for the party and now they have to serve better and do what the people of the town want.
“I would like to thank our electorate, even though some of them disappointed, that they failed me; I had asked them for the support.” commented Heredia. “At the end of the day I thank the majority that did the job.”
PUP Mayoral Candidate, Andre Perez stated that he is very grateful for the support of the town for his party and knows that the PUP made a big difference during this election process. “For our Mayoral candidate we lost by only 38 votes; that is unprecedented. Our party is a bit down, especially here in San Pedro, but we have something to build from, to raise the party from. We are not fragmented; we are united and are going to regroup.”
San Pedro Election Results
United Democratic Party
Daniel ‘Danny’ Guerrero – 2667
Hector ‘Tito’ Alamilla – 2818
Flora Ancona – 2904
Ruben ‘Rux’ Gonzalez – 2904
Gary Greif – 2890
Severo Guerreo – 2789
Gabriel ‘Gaby’ Nunez – 2809
People’s United Party
Andre Perez – 2629
Dianeli Aranda – 2605
Johnnia Duarte – 2554
Undina ‘Dina’ Graniel – 2543
Marina Graniel Kay – 2624
Ruben Navidad – 2475
Ian Pou – 2529
Adrenaline fueled the night in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye as even the entire country awaited the results. They were the last to be announced from all the municipalities. Elsewhere around the country the UDP took hold of Belmopan, Benque Viejo del Carmen, Dangriga, Punta Gorda and San Ignacio/Santa Elena while the PUP took control of Belize City & Corozal and remained in power in Orange Walk.
Statistics from Elections & Boundaries Website
