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Prime Minister John Briceno congratulated him on the successful completion of their recent elections and the continued partnership between the two countries. Though people may have their opinions on Bukele's leadership style, The Minister of Foreign affairs told us that his election was the people's choice and that speaks volumes.

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"I think our presence there at the inauguration, the Prime Minister and I was there. We were there as fellow leaders of Central American, American countries. We belong to SICA, President Bukele, whatever you think of his policies, his politics, he was duly elected by the people of Salvador in an overwhelming manner. So, you know, we engage with leaders from all over the world. That doesn't mean that we support their policies and their programs, but we respect the determination and decisions of their people to elect them."

"And we thought it was important for Belize to engage and to be present to participate in the inauguration ceremony. Because we are also involved at the economic level in terms of specific projects that we are working on with Salvador."

"We are working on a, you know, a sort of free trade agreement with what we call a partial scope agreement with Salvador to improve and expand trading opportunities for Belize. We're also looking at tourism, how can we expand tourism with Salvador, and again, also agriculture."

"So those were three areas and also investment, investment four areas that we discussed with President Bukele and his team. We want to be in a position to engage more with a country like Salvador, which has seven million people."

"There in lies an opportunity for Belize to increase trade and expand trade. So we thought it was right to be present."