And that release was supposedly about a story we posted on Facebook about the PM's October 2024 meeting with Raul Rocha, a Mexican investor and Miss Universe co-owner. This week, Rocha's name burst onto the international headlines when he was charged in Mexico with serious criminal offenses.
But even before that, should Rocha as a businessman have been allowed access to the prime minister? Was there some kind of vetting process before the meeting was set up? Fonseca explained how Rocha was able to meet Briceno.
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"I mean, the Prime minister was in Mexico last year, for that purpose, to meet with investors, to meet with trade groups. You know, now it has come out in respect of this individual, that the Mexican government has, you know, alleged that he is involved in certain activities, criminal activities. But how would it be possible for the Prime Minister a year ago to be aware of that? When you travel to these countries, you rely on, on their authorities. We work with their government, to determine how we schedule these meetings. It's not that we go to find these people. They say to us, listen, we have a number of investor. These are the areas that we are interested in. We have a number of investors who would like to meet with your team, your delegation. And that's how these things are coordinated. It's not the Prime minister's saying, I want to meet with this individual. He didn't even know who this individual is before it was put on the agenda to say, this is somebody who is interested in investing in Belize. So I think we have to be, you know, very careful about those things. There's no way you could have any crystal ball, to determine what the future will hold for people who you're meeting with. So, you know, I think there's nothing there in terms of the Prime Minister's meeting with Mr. Rocha."
In a statement to KREM News yesterday, the Prime Minister said, quote, "I met Mr. Rocha once when his company expressed interest in Belize and haven't heard from him or any member of his company."
