United States Government Designates Former Minister John Saldivar
Former Belmopan Area Representative John Saldivar has been banned for the foreseeable future from entering the United States. This afternoon, the U.S. Department of State issued a release informing that it has placed a designation on the erstwhile U.D.P. minister for “involvement in significant corruption”. The designation was issued under Section 7031of the US Constitution which makes Saldivar ineligible for a visa to enter the United States for an indefinite period. The designation also applies to Saldivar’s immediate family, including his minor child. The State Department’s release stopped short of giving a reason for Saldivar’s designation. Nonetheless, the former Minister of National Security has always maintained his innocence in the face of allegations of corruption, specifically in connection with allegations of his involvement with convicted fraudster Lev Dermen. Back in February 2020, Dermen stood before a courtroom in Salt Lake City, Utah, accused of defrauding the U.S. government in a bio-fuel scheme that reportedly netted over a billion dollars. One month later, Dermen was convicted of ten counts of various offenses arising out of his participation in the conspiracy. As for Saldivar’s alleged involvement with Dermen, court testimony from one of Dermen’s former partners, Jacob Kingston, revealed that Dermen gave the former Minister of National Security stacks of cash. Kingston testified saying that the cash was given in stacks of ten thousand dollars during a trip that Dermen and Kingston made to Belize in 2012. Kingston even told the court that Saldivar used his ministry’s boat to transport them to southern Belize. Court documents from the trial also revealed communications between Kingston and Saldivar in February 2014. Those text messages reveal that Saldivar agreed to go to Miami to collect fifty thousand U.S. dollars on February twelfth. At the time, Saldivar issued a statement questioning the credibility of those text messages. He went as far as suggesting that they were deliberately manufactured. He also claimed that the cash he received from Lev Dermen were campaign contributions. And, this is the position that Saldivar has maintained throughout the last two years. But now, the U.S. State Department is saying that they “have credible information that while in office Saldivar accepted bribes in exchange for improperly facilitating the acquisition of Belizean immigration documents and misused a U.S. donated Coast Guard boat for personal gain”. It is a yet another chapter in the never-ending Saldivar saga. But, as we said, Saldivar has maintained his innocence, as he did back in August when he was interviewed by News Five’s Paul Lopez.
File August 23rd, 2022
Paul Lopez
“Under the last administration you were accused of your own…”
John Saldivar
John Saldivar, Former Minister of National Security
“Not accused of corruption, not accused of corruption. So, let’s stop that right bloody there. I was never accused of corruption. I was accused of receiving campaign contributions for my community and it was never proven in any court of law that I did anything illegal or unlawful.”
Paul Lopez
“Do you believe that your named has been redeemed enough for you to stand out here with integrity?”
John Saldivar
“I have all the integrity in the world. I have never been proven to not have my integrity. People have been trying to tell a story, but nobody has come up with anything to say that I am a corrupt person.”
Paul Lopez
“Give ah thought on your bid in Belmopan and the support you are receiving in Belmopan.”
John Saldivar
“I feel very confident. The people in Belmopan are intelligent people. They have sifted through the noise that was there in 2020. And, they understand exactly what the difference is now between a John Saldivar UDP government in Belmopan and a Mira P.U.P. government in Belmopan. They understand the difference.”
Paul Lopez
“He is not getting the job done?”
John Saldivar
“Certainly not, and certainly not in the quantity that I use to get it done.”
