Turning now to the Prime Minister - last week he raised a few eyebrows when talking about the increase in passport fees. First, the context: He said that Belizeans should pay the full cost for a new e-passport- and it should not be subsidized by taxpayer dollars. He said it would be unfair that a cañero - who does not need a passport - should have to subsidize a passport for someone like him - who travels often.
That seemed somewhat classist and today - when he left the set of Sunup on 7 - the press asked him about it - and he kind of doubled down:
John Briceno, Prime Minister Of Belize
"I said not all caneros, I didn't say caneros don't need passport, but I said they are many caneros just like indigenous people, just like people in Southside Belize City that many of them don't need a passport. So, let's not try to make a story out of something that, I'm just trying to drive down home the point that I don't think it's fair for the citizens to subsidize a passport for somebody that wants to travel and can't afford to go to the United States as an example."
