During his visit, he met with both Prime Minister John Briceno and Foreign Minister Francis Fonseca. We asked him about the outcome of that meeting, and why he believes visits like these are important for strengthening diplomatic ties:

Brian Nichols, Assistant Secretary, US State Dept.
"We've talked about promoting good paying jobs in Belize, we've talked about dealing with issues of transnational organized crime, we've talked about safeguarding the environment, we've talked about the regional challenges that we faced particularly the hemispheric wide challenge around irregular migration. We've talked about the challenges that democracy faces and I extended my deep thanks to the Prime Minister and his team for their efforts, one, to regularize irregular migrants who can work in Belize and that efforts ongoing. It matches a number of efforts throughout the hemisphere but it's something we see as very positive so I want to just thank the people of Belize for that, I think it's going to be a win-win. In our regional we're dealing with real challenges to security and democracy in Haiti and Belize has sent two advanced officers to Haiti to participate with the multi-national security support mission there so we talked about the situation in Haiti, Belize's contribution, and how valuable that is in demonstrating Belize's leadership in our region. We talked about many other issues but those are some of the highlights."

"Belize is a country with whom we share democratic values, a desire to address the global threats like climate change. Being here in person and spending, what has been hours and hours with the Prime Minister and his team really has given me a much deeper insight into their thinking, into the needs that Belize has, into our engagement with Belize. I leave here seized with the importance of strengthening and deepening what was already a very positive relationship. So for me, this has been incredibly valuable. And I'm deeply, deeply grateful, to Prime Minister Briceno, The Cabinet, particularly Foreign Minister Fonseca."

"I think this is a country with great potential. And I look forward to encouraging other senior officials from our administration to visit Belize, and engage with your leadership."