The Prime Minister also commented on issues of national interest. Yesterday the Mexican side of the Santa Elena border was reopened after a 6 day closure and the movement of cargo was finally restored after a tense and costly closure - reportedly caused by a new cartel boss in that area.
Officials from the Belizean Embassy in Mexico and the Prime Minister's office in Belmopan did try to keep official tabs on the problem. The Prime Minister discussed those efforts:
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"We're very grateful that it has opened and very concerned. We've been dealing directly with the government but also I have direct contact with the office of the president to be able to address these things because you know sometimes with bureaucracy, things get stuck there and it does not move fast enough. A few months ago I had sent Ambassador Oliver del Cid along with our Ambassador Oscar Arnold to meet with Lázaro Cárdenas who is the chief of staff in the president's office for them to be able to give him a firsthand view of what really is taking place at the border. In bureaucracies we give a report and it's going up the channel, it's all being sanitized and by the time it gets to the highest channel, probably you don't get a full understanding of what really is happening and so for me it was important for me to be able to get directly to the president, that's when they sent in, I think about 10,000 troops came in, federal and state and they went and they managed to go after a lot of these people. Of course as soon as they left, these guys came back again. We have been talking again to the officials at the border and we felt we are not getting anywhere and so we then sent a message directly to the president's office a few days ago and so I'm happy to note that this issue is being cleared up but I think that sooner or later I will probably have to try to see if I can have a meeting with the president to say this matter is getting out of control and see if I can urge them to put a permanent presence at the border so that trade can be facilitated in and out of Mexico."
"I remember way back when I became prime minister in 2020 my first meeting with the officials at the US embassy, their questions to me was what is it that keeps you awake at night and I told them the cartels because we cannot afford to get them into this country because the minute they get it, it would be very difficult to get them out so we've been appealing to them to help us and I hope that pretty soon, they've been giving some help but we need some serious help with equipment, with intelligence, with transportation, with mobility to be able to move from the north to the south in a very short time."
