Mexicans suspend vehicle deposit
Although Belizeans may only have heard about it this week, the issue was making headlines in Mexico and the United States for weeks. When the furor was over the drivers had won, and the Mexican government suspended the new law requiring a deposit for vehicles entering Mexico. That’s right, just one day after the announcement here in Belize that Belizeans would have to get a waiver or pay up to eight hundred US to drive their cars down, or up, depending on your destination, the requirement no longer applies. But the suspension is not the result of the burden it would put on Belizeans or other Central Americans, but rather the realization that millions of Mexicans would be adversely affected by a law that was designed to curb the illegal sale of cars. News Five spoke with Mexico’s Ambassador to Belize Enrique Hubbard this morning who says the suspension is good news for Belizeans, and Mexicans planning to return home from the US for Christmas.
Enrique Hubbard, Mexican Ambassador to Belize
“This created a lot of opposition. We studied this very carefully, congress intervened in Mexico and the Mexican population in the US, which is enormous, and the Mexican consulates that represent us over there. Last night finally we came to an agreement, the whole system has been suspended. They say temporarily, probably meaning by that until it is reviewed further, not necessarily to a new date. So the system goes back to the way it was.
Although our problem is enormous, more than a million people in Mexico illegally, we don’t exactly have the proper diagnosis about how it happens, when it happens, who does this. So putting a general filter was going to hurt two bunches of people: one the tourists and the other the Mexican population. We’re talking about twenty million people in the US.”
The Ambassador stressed that Belizeans will still have to apply for an application to temporarily import their vehicle when driving through Mexico, but he says the process will be a lot easier and the bond required will be no more than fifteen US dollars. This is payable to the bank in Mexico in cash or by credit card.
