And if you were stuck in an unusually long line of traffic this morning, now you know why.
But while that ceremony kicked off at 9 this morning, traffic was blocked up from two hours earlier after police closed down the city's major streets to allow the Mexican president's spouse to easily traverse.
This is the second time in just weeks that Belize City commuters have found themselves stuck in traffic because of a visiting foreign dignitary, only this time, it happened at the height of the morning rush hour.
And with little notice, these commuters were blindsided by the traffic and weren't able to plan ahead - leaving some to abandon their cars and "foot it."
Courtney Menzies took a look at the situation this morning and has this story.
At 6:06pm, the Belize City Council posted this notice on their Facebook page. It is normally a time when residents are watching the news, or spending time with their family, and for most motorists, the notice had gone… unnoticed.
The blockage was to accommodate the passage of the First Lady of Mexico, who flew in to attend a ceremony at the House of Culture. But with no earlier release issued - not even to the media - her arrival was widely unknown.
That then led to plenty of confused commuters who couldn't get to work or school on time, since the city's major arteries were blocked during peak travel hours.
For two hours, those who needed to use the Philip Goldson Highway, Freetown Road, Mapp Street, North Front Street, Albert Street, and Regent Street were caught up in a long line of cars, all trying to make it to their destinations between 7 and 9 this morning.
And one mother decided she couldn't wait around for the traffic to clear. She parked her car in Belama and walked all the way to St Joseph Primary School to drop off her daughter - all before going to her own workplace at the courthouse.
She sent our newsroom a video ranting about the inconvenience - the second she's had to encounter this month - the first stemming from the Taiwanese President's trip to Belize.
Anita Nembhard, Court Reporter
"Ask me how I feel right now, I'm not happy. I had to walk all the way from the Belama police station with my daughter of course because she's gotta make it to school today. I have work, and when the Taiwanese president was here I was in the line for two hours and I'm not doing that today, not for no minister or prime minister. I don't know what they had to do but what they're doing right now is ridiculous. The whole country is on standstill and we have to suffer - again! So I'm doing what I can do, we can walk, so right now I'm at - where am I? Where are we, KJ? Oh, by BEL, taking the long journey to school. Anyways, only in Belize."
Once 9 hit, however, and the motorcade arrived ash the Government House, the blockage was alleviated and the traffic jam cleared up - leaving a lot of residents to arrive at work or school anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour late.
And then at 9:14, the Commissioner of Police issued an apology to motorists, saying that, quote, "It would appear that the police with a view to ensure the safety and free passage of our foreign guest, blocked traffic too early causing major and lengthy inconvenience to the users of the Highway. Moving forward, we will make greater assessment of these types of situations, to make sure that in future events the blockage and inconvenience will be for a minimal time." End quote.
Despite that assurance, these traffic blockages have left a bad taste in the mouths of commuters, who will now have to juggle their schedule the next time a foreign official visits Belize.
The Taiwanese President's journey from Belmopan to Belize City had also coincided with drive time while commuters were heading home from work, and traffic was blocked up from 5 to 7 in the evening.
