And the threats of VISA restrictions and revocations coming from the US is just one of the early issues of the Briceno Administration's second term. The PM also noted the cutting of aid funding - including the perilous MCC Grant - that they are faced with. And like in any second term, he must also keep a lid on the hubris of his colleagues. He spoke about the challenges this morning on Sunup on 7.
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"I think that one of the more important aspects is that we, my team, our team, because what has happened has been historic that we managed to hold on to 26 out of 31, we lost one but we got a big one that nobody expected in Collet. And then with the margins, in November of 2020 we won 58% of the popular vote, this time we won 66% so with that kind of mandate and then the UDP now starting their rebuilding process, which is going to be a long process, it's easy for us to get carried away, it's easy for us ministers or leaders to get carried away and say well we can do what we want, they can't tell us what to do, people are with us, that kind of stuff. And then your supporters push you and say don't worry about the UDP, we want to do this and we want to do that. So it's important to be, the tough is to ensure that we can always keep our feet on the ground."
"Secondly, the world is changing and it's changing really fast. We don't know what to expect in the United States with President Trump, he's a disruptor, be it good or bad, he's a disruptor and changing things. I don't want to go to far but look at NATO that has always been, nobody thought that an American president would be challenging the existence of NATO and wanting to have a deal with Russia of all countries and bring it to us. They have stopped all aid that they've been giving to projects they were working on. The MCC came up with the compact, we signed the compact, we fast tracked it and managed to get it done in 3 years and we manage to secure 125 million US dollars of which 80% will be spent in education and how we could innovate education, Energy, the challenges we're facing because of the rapid growth we've been having in Belize, that has been put on pause and we don't know what's going to happen."
