Speaking Out Against Perez Allegedly Costs Hernandez His Job

There’s new fallout tonight from a land dispute on Ambergris Caye. Jose Hernandez, the San Pedro resident you saw on Tuesday night, now says he’s been fired from his job at the San Pedro Town Council, all because he spoke out against Area Representative Andre Perez. Just last week, Hernandez stood alongside the UDP’s Gabriel Zetina at a press conference, accusing Perez of denying him a parcel of land he says he’s lived on for ten years. Perez pushed back, telling News Five that Hernandez’s wife already owns property on the island and that granting the family a second parcel wouldn’t be fair. But today, Hernandez says the consequences have hit home. He claims he’s now out of a job, and out of the means to support his family.

 

Jose Hernandez, San Pedro Resident

“Today there is another problem; I’ve always worked for the town council and yesterday morning the boss called me immediately. She told me, “Mr. Jose: Bring the key, Andres Perez wants the van and its key.” That’s what she told me.  They didn’t inform me that I was fired or anything. They just call me and say, “Bring the keys” and that’s it. I mean, I don’t know, they should notify me. As far as I understand, that’s how it goes. Two weeks in advance they notify you that you are fired. They also haven’t paid me Social Security. Nothing. I have been working for the town council since before the pandemic, but there was a pause once. When I started again, that’s when they fired me from the job. I have five children, I can’t and don’t have money to give each of them their twenty dollars so they can go to school and have lunch money. I live ten miles north from the center. So, I am far away. And well, with those twenty for each one, it’s for them to have lunch. But now I have no job and I don’t have money either.”

 

Hernandez Rejects ‘Disingenuous’ Land Allegation

 

The back and forth over land ownership in San Pedro has taken a more personal turn. Jose Hernandez is refuting claims that he tried to secure a second land title while his wife already had one. Area Representative Andre Perez accused Hernandez of being “disingenuous” about his family’s land situation, but Hernandez says that’s simply not true. He’s now making it clear that he and his wife have been separated for three years, and that the land she acquired is hers, not his. Hernandez insists he’s only been trying to secure a piece of land for himself because, as he puts it, he currently doesn’t own any.

 

Jose Hernandez, San Pedro Resident

“ Well, Mr. Heredia, who was from the red party, gave her a piece of land and gave me a piece of land. I can’t rely on something that isn’t mine, it’s not in my name, that’s my wife’s, it’s not mine. I can’t depend on that land, because to begin with we have issues that aren’t very good, but I am attentive to the children, who are five. I am always keeping an eye on them and taking care of them. She was on the land that Mr. Heredia gave her, but the same thing happened to her. The PUP took it away, Mr. Pérez took that land from her and gave it to someone else. I don’t know how she applied for that, and well, she managed to get the land. Well, that’s her thing anyway. But the land that I have, that Mr. Heredia gave me, Minister Andre Perez comes and takes it away from me. It’s not the same when things are for my wife, and when things are mine. What is mine is mine; what is hers is hers. I don’t count on hers.”

 

A simple political jab has now morphed into a deeper fight over family ties, fairness, and who actually has a rightful claim.

 

Perez Says Hernandez’s Termination Was Inevitable

 

Perez isn’t letting Hernandez’s claims slide. He says he had nothing to do with Hernandez being fired from the San Pedro Town Council. According to Perez, once he reached out to the council, he was told that parents had filed repeated complaints about Hernandez’s performance, and that his termination was already in motion long before the political noise. Perez says it’s “unfortunate” that the opposition is now using Hernandez’s situation to score political points. Here’s how he puts it.

 

On the Phone: Andre Perez, Area Representative, Belize Rural South

“I actually had to inquire why he was terminated. I knew the issues with him and did not know the specifics. But I have gotten the information from the council. Apparently, he was not performing at the standard of what is expected of him. He was hired as the driver to take students from the North Ambergris area to bring them to school. But I understand from the council that the parents complained a lot about him not being on time. I think they were telling that the children would not be reaching until after six to North Ambergris because he would stop at different places and the children are saying they are reaching late because of that. At no time did I request to hand over the keys. The van is for school purposes. It was donated by my office but handed over to the town council to manage the driver, the maintenance and if their parts to be replaced then they reach out to me and I will replace the parts. But I have nothing to do with the hiring or firing of this gentleman. I am a bit saddened that the opposition is going to use this poor gentleman for political gain and they are using the woes of a person for political mileage. But he has done his media rounds and I will respond, he claims that the land he is squatting on that he has developed it. But I have the proof and I will send the screenshots of what we have, up until 2021 there was no kind of activity on that property.”

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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