Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto left the country a short while ago on his presidential jet after his first visit to Belize. He arrived at 10:45 this morning, and left half an hour ago, so his trip It lasted less than eight hours. But the agenda was packed. And the highlite was the fourth CARICOM-Mexico Summit, which was held this afternoon.
7News was there and Jules Vasquez has the story:...
Jules Vasquez Reporting
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto had by far the biggest entourage of officials and security when he swept into the Biltmore Best Western this afternoon. He stopped to give greetings to hotel staff who were hovering in the dining room and then greeted 
host Prime Minister Dean Barrow upstairs with an "abrazo." Make no mistake, Pena Nieto was the centerpiece of this summit because he's one of the few leaders of a G20 nation willing to sit with CARICOM leaders - building on a relationship established back in 1974.
H.E. Irwin Larocque - Secretary General, CARICOM
"Excellencies, Heads of State and Government, summits such as these enable a dialogue between friends and strengthens our fraternal relationship. CARICOM and Mexico have enjoyed such a relationship for 44 years."
Rt. Hon. Keith Mitchell - PM Grenada, Chairman of CARICOM
"Since then we've built a solid relationship in cultural, political and economic realms. Mexico has demonstrated its commitment to the sustainable development of our region by providing generous assistance in areas such as health, agriculture, education, and statistics."
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow - PM, Belize
"Belize is honored to host this coming-together between Mexico, perhaps the greatest friend to which our country is bound by blood and history, and CARICOM, undoubtedly Belize's first family. Today, therefore, we have an opportunity to build upon the work of the three previous summits and on our mutual interest in the multiple areas of identical concern. We have an opportunity to build metaphorical if not literal bridges across the expanse of the Caribbean Sea. Disaster Management, Health, Education, Security, Energy, Technology, Trade, and Investment: these are the hardscrabble issues, the plinth and building blocks that we must tackle to drive progress and unshackle our societies within and across our borders."
Disaster reduction strategies for CARICOM dominated Peña Nieto's address as he committed 14 million dollars in assistance towards disaster mitigation:
Enrique Pena Nieto - President, Mexico
"14 million dollars for the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility through a reassignment of existing resources that were committed to the Caribbean Development Bank's Special Development Fund."
After the opening ceremony, the Summit got underway at about 3:30 - and lasted for about two hours.
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