7 News Belize

New U.S. Ambassador Andre Bauer Arrives in Belize
posted (September 4, 2026)
The new U.S. Ambassador to Belize arrived in the country this afternoon.

Ambassador Rudolph Andreas Bauer, otherwise known as Andre Bauer, served as a State Senator in the South Carolina House of Representatives and as Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina from 2003 to 2011. He also appeared as a political commentator on CNN from 2016 to 2019.

Shortly after he landed, Bauer held a press briefing in the VIP room at the Philip Goldson International Airport, where he expressed his excitement to be in Belize:

Andre Bauer, U.S. Ambassador to Belize
"I can't just tell you how excited my family and I are to be here. Little Andre is right there. And we, more than anything, we look forward to being part of this community, this country. The President sent me here to try to continue to work on our relations. We have an incredible relationship that's lasted decades now between our two countries. We have so many mutual interests and so many big things getting ready to happen. When you look at the MCC, for example, there's exciting things that are going to help the people of this country and help our country and move opportunities forward for so many Belizeans. And so I'm excited to get to be a part of that. President has sent me here with a message to try to improve safety, security, and opportunities for both countries, and we are really going to focus on that. I think he picked a business person with some background in that to give a different perspective. And so I am extremely excited to be here."

Reporter:
"There are many citizens that view the U.S. Embassy in Belize as a disciplinary presence, to keep local government officials and elected officials in check, sometimes through visa revocations and designations. How do you view the diplomatic relationship dynamic in that regard?"

Andre Bauer:
"So everybody, you know, we all have opinions and different perspectives based on life experiences. The experiences I've seen and most people I've talked to feel very comfortable about the relationship between the two countries. Everybody's entitled to their opinion, but I hope that I'll be able to, to even more, make them feel better about the relationship between the two countries, so they'll be able to judge me by my actions and the actions of what the United States tries to do to work together. And so, people are always going to have opinions that are differ from yours, and hopefully I can, as the spokesperson for the President and someone who represents the United States and is planning on being an integral part of this country... I hope to do a better job of all I can to make people feel good about the relationship between the two countries in our bilateral relationship."

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