Omar Figueroa Shifts Support Back to Shyne Barrow for UDP Leadership

The power struggle within the United Democratic Party (UDP) continues, this time with Omar Figueroa shifting his support to Moses “Shyne” Barrow after initially backing Tracy Taegar-Panton. Figueroa now plans to run for the UDP under Barrow’s leadership after meeting with him on Thursday night.

Figueroa had previously written a letter on October 28th, praising Panton’s efforts at unity within the party and suggesting a national leadership convention. However, this convention never materialised.

On January 23, Figueroa, alongside his constituency committee, pledged support for Barrow as the UDP leader. According to Alberto August, UDP Deputy Chair, Figueroa wants to run in the elections as a UDP candidate and sees Barrow as the UDP leader again.

Figueroa’s shift in support came less than two weeks after Ivan Puerto, another supporter of Tracy Panton, stepped down as the standard bearer for Corozal Bay. Puerto had been a prominent figure at the Panton-led Unity Convention in October. On the same day Figueroa publicly backed Panton, Elodio Aragon Jr., the UDP standard bearer for Orange Walk East, also pledged his support to her. However, when News 5 spoke to Aragon today, he confirmed that he still fully supports Panton.