And from that shot of good, encouraging news to two shots of bad, discouraging news about Belize's international profile.
A group called the Latin American Public Opinion Project conducts public opinion surveys in Latin America and the Caribbean. It has done a survey measuring public opinion about bribes, whether people think they are justifiable.
And, survey shows Belize is right at the top of the list! No, not for taking bribes, but for the percentage of people who say that given the way things are, sometimes paying a bribe is justified.
Guyana is number one in that category, Haiti is number two, Belize is third, Trinidad and Tobago fourth and Mexico fifth.
More than 20% of the respondents answered yes in those top five countries. Notably, Guatemala is last on the list where only 7.8% of the respondents thought paying a bribe is justified.
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