Aside from the energy crisis, they also spoke about the narco situation in Chetumal, Quintana Roo. He warned the president that if they didn't act now, Belize would see detrimental effects in the next decade.

John Briceno, Prime Minister
"I did not expected to have a meeting with the President. I was trying to get a phone call, just to talk to him about energy, about the crisis that we're facing at the moment. And when he heard that I was in Mexico City, he immediately said, you know, I want to meet with him in person."

"And the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs mentioned to our Ambassador they have never managed to be able to have to receive a head of state in such a short time. This was done in about three or four days, just over the weekend, and decided that he's going for us to be able to meet."

"We spoke about many issues, but certainly the issue of the threats from the cartel in Mexico is nothing new for us. We have been dealing with this. When I met Secretary of State Blinken, Secretary of Homeland, Mallorca, the deputy head of the CIA, and all of the officials in the American government, my message has been to them that we need help now."

"That if we do not get help now, 10 years from now, we can have a totally different Belize. We have to do everything possible to keep out the organized crime from Mexico, as we refer to them as the cartels."

"We do not have the money. We do not have the ruthlessness that they have. So they're working on it. What is so ironic to me is that the leader of the opposition was there to criticize the government. I remember last year, I think it was in August when we did a supplementary budget for about a million dollars to help us boost our presence here in the North."

"He was one of them who was criticizing us that here we're coming voting for more money. I know he's saying that we're not spending enough. So I think he needs to get his act together. The point is that we have been fighting this from day one. And we're working on plans. But this is not something that you could invite the NGO community and you invite the media to say, hey, this is what we're doing. This is national security."

"We can't be able to discuss these things openly. With Mexico, what we did is that we have this....., I think it's where the security apparatus of Mexico and from Belize now have met. We restarted that collaboration between the two countries."

"And so since last year, we're meeting and we've been working together. We've been doing patrols together. We've been sharing information. So I don't think we need to get too excited, concerned? Of course we have to be concerned."

"But when I spoke to the President, he said what he has done, he has immediately sent in help from the Federal police that have come in and that have already been settled down, and he expect to be able to keep pressing on them to ensure that Chetumal can once again be looked at as a peaceful city."

The PM also assured President Lopez Obrador that the Cabinet has decided to make travel to Belize easier for Mexicans.