AmbergrisCaye.com Home
Posted By: Marty Mexico Bans Belizean Buses on the Weekend - 02/02/10 03:13 PM

Belizean buses are no longer allowed to enter Mexico during the weekends. According to the Mexican Embassy, as part of their modernization project – all buses will be subject to what’s called “Gamma Ray Screening” – it is like x-ray for buses to detect contraband and illegal immigrants and since it isn’t done on the weekends – buses won’t be allowed to cross the border on Saturdays and Sundays. Public Relations Officer at the Mexican Embassy Marcelino Miranda says that Belizeans can still cross the Mexican border but they can’t do it on a bus.

Marcelino Miranda, PR Officer – Mexican Embassy
“There are rules in Mexico that have to be followed and that is the reason why the Mexican Government through Mexican Customs has started to inform Belizean buses about these timetables. This means Belizean buses can cross into Mexico but they have to do it within this timetable. At the moment they cannot cross because the gamma ray screening is not working during the weekend.

Passengers can cross into Mexico. They have to get out of the bus, the Belizean bus, they go through Mexican Immigration and Customs and they are allowed to go into Mexico. There are plenty of transports available at the border, they can use these and travel to anywhere in Mexico to Chetumal, to Cancun, and so there is no restriction about passengers – it is just about Belizean buses.”

Miranda says the rule also restricts Mexican buses and it is being implemented at all border crossings.

Channel 7
Posted By: Marty Re: Mexico Bans Belizean Buses on the Weekend - 02/02/10 03:16 PM

BELIZEAN BUS DRIVERS BLOCK THE NORTHERN BORDER

February 01, 2010

Arturo Cantun reporting.......

Belize bus operators are facing some inconveniences in travelling to the nearby Mexican city of Chetumal.  Love News understands that since last week Tuesday Mexican custom officials have been implementing a border entry regulation where large vehicles such as buses, trucks, and cargo containers will only be scanned using gamma rays and allowed into Mexico between the hours of 9am and 7pm on weekdays and between 9am and 5pm on weekends.  Since Tuesday, when the regulation was implemented, Belize buses were not allowed into Mexico until 9am, but on Saturday things escalated when the bus drivers and operators decided to block the entry into Belize at the foot of the Belize Mexico Friendship Bridge to Mexican taxi and mini bus operators. This is when uniformed Corozal Police were called in to calm the situation. Corozal Police report that some six to eight bus drivers and operators were planning to place tires at the foot of the bridge on the Belize side in order to block the entrance to Mexican public transportation. After the police dialogued with the bus drivers the bus drivers decided not to continue with their plan but express their dissatisfaction in the way they were being treated. Later that morning however the buses were allowed to cross into Chetumal. Love News caught up with a bus driver who told us about his concern of the situation.

Bus driver

"I have been working with Tillett's for nine years and we never had this problem, I know we Belizeans with Mexico we have a good relationship. What we want to know is why we can't cross this border because this will affect the people. We charge them $4.00 from Orange Walk to Chetumal and the poor people, things are hard right now. Right now when you reach the border you have to pay 70 pesos or 50 pesos sometime, even the taxi man chance you because some people don't know the price of taxi they will chance you, I hear it is supposed to be 50, sometimes they charge you 60, 70, 80 pesos and I think that is wrong.  We want to know what is going on.  We really want someone to intervene in this and see what is going on, maybe a minister or the Ambassador to represent us."

Love News tried to get clarification from the Mexican officials at the border but there was no one to go on record and explain the changes in the entry process of buses and trucks into Mexico.  We however spoke with Public Relation Officer at the Mexican Embassy in Belize  Marcelino Miranda, who told us that the regulation has been in place since 2006 but it was not until this past week that it was decided to be implemented.

Marcelino Miranda; Public Relations Officer, Mexican Embassy

"These rules are not new; they have been in place since 2006.  It has been a whole process of modernization of the Mexican border especially at Customs and now most of those rules are being enforced.  Bus owners were informed previously that we have this time table for all buses, you have to understand this is a rule that has to apply to everybody and we are not talking about a special regulation for this border, we are talking about a national policy of Mexico that has been applied in all borders, all Mexican borders.  All the rest of private vehicles they can go into Mexico, they can cross the border 24 hours a day."

Arturo Cantun, Reporter

Anything is being considered, because what we understand from the buses is that they have early runs to the border and on weekends they also have excursions that will extend outside the time.

Marcelino Miranda; Public Relations Officer, Mexican Embassy

"We were informed that there are some runs that are in place outside of this time table.  Here at the Embassy of Mexico we welcome bus operators to contact us and to talk about these rules that are being enforced and we can explore other ways in which they can accommodate and they can fit this time table."

Arturo Cantun, Reporter

Sources tell Love News that an exception was being made for Belizean buses to enter Mexico at anytime of the day, but because certain buses were caught smuggling contraband into Mexico this practice was discontinued and the decision was made to implement the regulation in place for all Mexican entry points. Love News understands that for now bus runs heading to Chetumal will continue and buses will remain at the border until they are allowed to pass into Mexico.

LOVEFM
Posted By: Peter Jones Re: Mexico Bans Belizean Buses on the Weekend - 02/02/10 05:37 PM
What is a bus? Does this new rule also apply to Belizean taxis?
Posted By: MisterB266 Re: Mexico Bans Belizean Buses on the Weekend - 02/02/10 06:29 PM
Confirmed to me today by the Department of Transport (Belize), buses are currently not allowed to cross at any time on weekends.

This is because the scanner is not in operation on weekends, but it could change in the future so that buses can cross only between 9 am to 5 pm on Saturdays & Sundays.

This only applies to large vehicles (regardless of whether they are Belizean, Guatemalan, Mexican or anything else), so taxis and small vans can cross.
Posted By: Marty Re: Mexico Bans Belizean Buses on the Weekend - 02/04/10 02:41 PM
Amid concerns from Belizeans over the weekend that our neighbor to the North, Mexico, had closed its borders without warning, today the Mexican Embassy in Belize stepped forward for clarification.

According to press and consular officer Marcelino Miranda, Mexico is looking to streamline and modernize its national border policy and has been enforcing the timetable rule for cargo trucks and Mexican buses, but allowing Belizeans to get by.

Belizean buses now will only be allowed to cross the border at Santa Elena, Corozal, from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Mondays to Fridays - the rest of the time and on weekends, passengers must utilize Mexican transportation to get to and from Chetumal.

Private vehicles and Belizean buses returning from Mexico are not affected, and the actual Customs and Immigration procedures continue as per normal.

Passengers will be required to exit the bus at the border and go through Mexican Customs and Immigration while the bus is screened, then rejoin the bus for the trip across. On the return, once Immigration is cleared, the passengers can cross, with no problem.

On weekends, we are told, the screening for the buses are not in effect, which is why the Belizean buses are not being allowed to cross.

Reports to Amandala are that many Belizeans traveling across the border on the weekend were concerned that the border had been closed entirely, but Miranda told us that those reports are untrue.

Buses will now be required to undergo a screening procedure involving gamma rays, which can detect the presence of illegally smuggled goods, firearms, drugs, and even undocumented immigrants.

Amandala understands from a reliable Mexican source that the Mexicans are only now putting their foot down because some Belizean drivers have been flouting the regulations for too long and those wishing to get contraband goods past the border posts use the bus as their means of transport, both of which Mexico wishes to avoid.

According to Miranda, the drivers got over a week's worth of reminders from the Mexican officials at the border post, and they must now adapt to the enforced regulations. The procedure, Miranda stressed, is not "targeted" at Belizeans.

The Mexican Embassy is available to answer all concerns; already there are reports that Mexican taxi operators are overcharging passengers at the border to get from the post to downtown Chetumal.

Amandala
Posted By: Marty Re: Mexico Bans Belizean Buses on the Weekend - 02/10/10 03:35 PM
Mexico Lifts Weekend Ban on Belizean Buses

Last week we reported that Belizean passenger buses were not being allowed to cross the Mexican border over the weekends. The explanation from the Mexican Embassy was that as part of new security measures, all buses had to pass through a Gamma Ray Scan which wasn't done on weekends.
It caused uproar amongst bus drivers and their passengers, and today Cabinet announced that the ban has been lifted. So the news tonight is that buses will be allowed to cross the border on weekends.

Public Relations Officer for the Mexican Embassy, Marcelino Miranda, told us that there was never really a ban. He says that to accommodate Belizeans, the Mexican Customs will conduct the Gamma Ray testing on weekends between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
© Ambergris Caye Belize Message Board