By Belize Live News Staff: Last week, Corozal’s mayor stared down his challengers and walked away crowned. This week, the convention gods collected their balance from the other end of the country.
Punta Gorda Town has spoken, and Mayor Carlos “Obeah” Galvez is out. Challenger Maclovio Ack took Sunday’s PUP convention 554 votes to 392, with Dr. Francis Arzu gathering 209 in the three-way race, out of 1,233 ballots cast and 20 rejected, results first carried by PGTV News, who promise the full story to come.
The voters built Ack a full team while they were at it. Gloria Avila led all councillor candidates with a commanding 692 votes, Anthony Fuentes followed at 636, and then came the convention’s quirkiest line: Kerlin Moreira and Olivia Sho finishing in a dead heat at 544 each, both safely selected, with Indira Coleman at 541 and Roberto Virez at 516 rounding out the slate.
Step back and the season’s scoreboard gets interesting. Two big PUP conventions, two incumbent mayors challenged, two completely different verdicts. Rigo Vellos in Corozal turned back his challenge and cried tears of relief. Galvez in Punta Gorda watched his town choose a new direction. The lesson for every sitting mayor eyeing March 2027 is written in southern ink: the title defends nothing, the voters decide everything.
For Ack, the celebration comes with the standard homework, pulling a contested party back together before the real fight, and for the town, the next question is who the UDP sends to face him. Galvez’s reaction, and whatever comes next for the man with one of the most recognizable nicknames in southern politics, waits on the fuller coverage ahead.
Punta Gorda, you wanted change, and the convention delivered it. Now March gets to ask the bigger question: how much?
So tell us, PG: did the convention get it right? And who should the UDP put up for the town? Let us know in the comments.
