Earlier in the news, we told you about the trilateral meeting between Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala. Before the meeting - and on her way to Calakmul, Mexico's president held her daily press briefing in Chetumal, where she told the press what would be discussed. That's right, like her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, President Claudia Sheinbaum holds daily two hour plus press briefings.
For the media in Belize, regular press conferences - or even just one - are either a faint dream or a distant memory.
So were Fonseca and PM Briceno inspired to a new level of transparency by their regional counterpart? Hardly! But Minister Fonseca believes that we have enough access to the government as is.
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"You know, I think, I would say that, you know, the press in Belize has, in my view, you know, great access to our leaders that you don't have in many other countries. in a country like Mexico that's so large, you can understand perhaps the importance of of the the president following the tradition. Of course, this is a new tradition in Mexico, right? It was started by the predecessor. The current president's predecessor, AMLO, president AMLO he started that practice. So, you know, obviously I am a great supporter of greater access to the media, for the media. The more opportunities you have to ask our leaders questions. It's good for our democracy. Good for Belize. But I would say to, you know, in Belize, you have great access to the prime minister of this country. He makes himself always accessible, available. He goes on many morning shows. You all know where he will be almost every day. So you can access him. And you also have access to, you know, ministers of government. So we're always open to new ways of improving access. So that there can be greater accountability, more transparency, all of those things. So, yeah, we are open to that."
And we must note that the Belizean press is never apprised of the PM's schedule - and we certainly do not know where he is everyday. And we have sparing access to other ministers - when we can catch them.
