Dear Sir,

Everything is supposed to be back to normal at the Santa Elena Border on trading with Mexico: lamentably it is not. There is a new Mexican broker agency but the speed of dispatching is way below par. Some trucks are still waiting from last week Tuesday.

This is very expensive for Belizean businessmen since we have to foot the bill. Even the customs officers on our side are complaining about how poor the revenue stream is. This will definitely affect government’s financials.

The former broker agency who could get all trucks going in one day is trying hard to restart his business but Mexico is not Belize and we can cry as much as we want but will have to wait until these new ones learn the ropes.

Belize’s trade deficit with Mexico is so huge that official exchange rate should have us at $6.45 pesos for $1.00 Bze but we only receive $6.15 on the informal market. That is a 5% loss and on the millions Belizeans spend in Mexico, we are losing big time.

Why is this? I have suggested before that we make the Belize dollar legal tender in the Commercial Free Zone so as to create a demand for our currency, making it more valuable. As it is, the U.S. dollar and the Mexican peso are worth more.

Just saying.

Regards,
Romel Cuello