The government of Belize recently issued a warning to its citizens regarding the insecurity and violence in Chetumal. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade said “The Government of Belize is monitoring the recent rise in violent crime in Chetumal, Mexico and advises Belizeans to exercise caution when traveling across the Northern Border and visiting Chetumal.”
In response, Amir Padilla Espadas, president of Canaco Chetumal, emphasized the urgency for authorities to swiftly address and remove this warning. He stressed that its continuation could adversely affect the influx of Belizean visitors, who significantly contribute to the local economy, representing 30% of economic activity in the town.
He underscored the importance of government-to-government dialogue to coordinate actions and raise awareness.
Padilla urged prompt removal of the alert. He mentioned his role as president of Canaco and their efforts, alongside the Consul of Belize, to communicate with Belizean counterparts, informing them of the situation in Chetumal and the measures being implemented to safeguard tourist and commercial activities.
On the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day, Hipolito Novelo of News 5 Belize writes about how, more than ever, they are advocating for press freedom and the planet.
By Hipolito Novelo, Journalist & Digital Content Creator, News 5 Belize
As we mark World Press Freedom Day under the theme ‘A Press for the Planet: Journalism in the Face of the Environmental Crisis,’ here at News 5 Belize, our dedication to covering climate change and environmental stories is deeply ingrained. We understand the vital role of journalism in addressing urgent issues. We are the voice for the voiceless. We are the watchdogs of democracy, equity, and transparency. We have a duty to the public we serve.
Our approach to reporting on climate change and environmental stories is rooted in accuracy, responsibility, and the safety of our journalists. We have realised the importance of climate reporting and our role in raising awareness and properly educating the Belizean public.
The News Five team prioritises the well-being of reporters covering environmental crises. Though the risks are minimal and very few, we ensure that potential risks are considered in the planning process. Our journalists are constantly engaged in training and capacity building throughout the year to better equip themselves with the skills and knowledge necessary to report on the climate crisis.
Accuracy is paramount in our reporting. We conduct fact-checking. Our journalists are constantly in communication with experts. We present a balanced view of these issues. We understand the difference between climate reporting and climate activism. Our aim is to inform and educate while upholding journalistic integrity.
“The public trusts us with the information we share with them. We do not take that trust lightly, which is why quality climate reporting is paramount.”
As we witness the impacts of climate change firsthand, our coverage goes beyond the headlines, beyond the figures. We must make the people care. We humanise the story by spotlighting local perspectives, amplifying marginalised voices such as people with diverse abilities, the LGBTQ+ community, and women and children, and showcasing innovative solutions to combat environmental degradation. By highlighting the environmental, social, and economic implications, our news items empower individuals and communities in Belize to make informed decisions and take meaningful actions to address local climate challenges.
Reporter Paul Lopez and veteran videographer George Tillett
Investigative reporting is also crucial to what we do. Environmental injustices must be exposed. We invest in in-depth investigations that expose corruption, misconduct, questionable practices, and policies harmful to the environment. The public trusts us with the information we share with them. We do not take that trust lightly, which is why quality climate reporting is paramount. It contributes to the development of effective climate policies and initiatives tailored to Belize’s specific needs and challenges.
Collaboration with global partners enhances our understanding of environmental challenges. By sharing resources and insights, we contribute to a holistic view of these interconnected issues.
We are probably one of the smallest newsrooms in the region. They say journalism is an unforgiving career. It’s not an 8-to-5 office job. News is always happening. This means we are always working. We don’t do it for money or fame. We do it because we love it. If we hadn’t, we would have been in another field.
This is why, on this World Press Freedom Day, News 5 Belize remains steadfast in advocating for press freedom and the planet.
A man was shot and killed last night in Patchakan Village, Corozal. The victim has been identified as twenty-year-old Benito Canela. Police say that gunshots were heard just before 9 o’clock near the village’s park. Minutes later, police discovered Canela’s body on the ground. He has been shot multiple times.
Investigators say that a man exited a Ford 150 pickup truck and fired several shots at Canela, who was with his wife at the time of the shooting.
Tonight, there are portions of the country that are presently without electricity. In fact, this has been the case since ten a.m. when electricity was cut off in certain areas of Orange Walk District. The scheduled power interruptions will continue until eleven p.m. That’s because Belize is facing an energy crisis and B.E.L., its sole electricity provider, is scrambling to meet demand levels that have soared as high as one hundred and twenty-five megawatts. As it stands, the maximum in-country generation capacity is ninety-five megawatts and its supply from CFE in Mexico remains uncertain. The effect of the hours-long power interruption was most felt in San Pedro on Wednesday, and we will have full coverage of that untimely experience elsewhere in our newscast. Earlier today, the Chief Executive Officer of Belize Electricity Limited and other senior managers of the utility company held a press conference to inform the nation of the latest challenges that B.E.L. is faced with. C.E.O. John Mencias began by discussing the country’s present consumption.
John Mencias
John Mencias, C.E.O., Belize Electricity Ltd.
“The local peak, well the peak for Belize goes up usually about a hundred and fifteen megawatts, but it can go as high as it did earlier this year to a hundred and twenty-seven megawatts. There are times during the day, especially during the night when it falls to a hundred and fifteen megawatts which means that in-country supply is able to meet that peak. However, we had to take our Mile 8 gas turbine out of service because we are upgrading it and so we lost nineteen megawatts and that puts the local in-country generation capacity below a hundred megawatts which means, therefore, that once we’re in that situation to be able to meet demand most of the time, we have to rely on the fifty-five megawatts that we get from CFE. Whenever we can’t get power from CFE and we’re in that situation, then we have to resort to load shedding. So we were in a situation like that on Monday whereby CFE said we have to meet demand over here in Mexico and we are unable to supply you with the fifty-five megawatts that you need. In fact, you need to go down to zero at this time, and when they do that, we are unable to match demand with supply.”
According to Mencias, what has been taking place is load shedding, a controlled process of temporarily reducing electricity consumption across different areas to ensure the stability and continuous operation of the national electricity grid. During the presser, the Chief Executive Officer also informed that CFE, Belize’s energy supplier in Mexico, was only able to provide twenty megawatts to the grid until three o’clock this afternoon.
John Mencias, C.E.O., Belize Electricity Ltd.
“So we have to load shed and that is what happened on Monday. And that is actually what is happening right now as we speak, that CFE has agreed today to supply us about twenty megawatts up to 3:00 this evening. It’s three o’clock already? But as of three o’clock they are going to cut it down to zero which means that we have to take off even more feeders throughout the country. So those are the reasons for the recent power interruptions. There’s a shortage of generation capacity in the country. Now, I want to make it abundantly clear to everyone that CFE is not acting outside of the contractual arrangements with BEL. What we purchase from CFE is called opportunity cost energy. It use to be called economic energy which means that it is interruptible at any moment’s notice. However, CFE has worked with us, they have tried to give us two hours notice, sometimes it is less. The relationship with CFE goes way back. It goes way back to the 1980’s. They have been a reliable provider of electricity for Belize. They have enabled us to keep our costs down, but importantly, also, they have provided us with great support and to put that in context, our systems are interconnected. We are very small compared to them. Any jolt in our system, they are able to handle it for us and that is the importance of being connected to a big brother like CFE. However, we have been aware for some time that they have also been having generation shortage problems of their own and also what we call transmission congestion problems. And that is why we have been emphasizing that we need to build in-country generation capacity to a level to be able to meet our peak demand within our own country. That does not mean that we’re saying we don’t want to continue our relationship with CFE. We want to continue that relationship with CFE. They provide us, as I said, with grid support and when the price of energy from CFE is low, we want to purchase it. it’s to our advantage. However, our focus has been since 2019, on energy security. Well from before. But we have made a point, we are driving the point that we have to stop relying on CFE to meet peak demand in country.”
On Wednesday, residents of San Pedro underwent a fourteen-hour power outage. This came amidst tourism high season, forcing hotels that were able to use generators to accommodate guests, while smaller hotels made do without. In a press conference today, B.E.L. C.E.O. John Mencias said the most recent outage was caused by faulty equipment. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with the story.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
Amidst the tourism high season, Belize’s premier tourist destination underwent a grueling thirteen-hour power outage. What began at ten twenty a.m. on Wednesday, lasted until the early hours of Thursday morning in some areas. This power outage was not the first residents of the island experienced recently, as just a few weeks ago, power supply to the island was cut. This was caused by a submarine cable, which supplies energy to the area, surpassing its max capacity. To protect the cable, the feed from it was temporarily dropped by Belize Electricity Limited. At a press briefing held by the energy providers, BEL CEO, John Mencias expanded on the events that caused the breach to occur.
John Mencias
John Mencias, C.E.O., Belize Electricity Ltd
“So about three or four weeks ago. We had power interruptions. I think it occurred on Saturday. A power interruption in San Pedro. It affected feeder to San Pedro, which is the portion of the feed the system that feeds to the north where most of the resorts are. That lasted for probably an hour to two the most. And the reason for that poor interruption is that the cable, the capacity of the single submarine cable that feeds the island was breached, meaning that demand on the island surpassed the capacity of the cable. The cable is rated for somewhere in the region of seventeen megawatts just above, and the demand in San Pedro went to seventeen point six megawatts. And we move quickly. To protect the cable. And that is why we dropped a feeder to out there. But afterwards, what we did, Is that we got in contact with various resort owners. We asked them if they could go on their standby generators when they did. So that reduced the demand for electricity in San Pedro and we were able to reduce supply below the capacity limit of the cable.”
Mencia said that the high demand in San Pedro continued for about two weeks, causing larger hotel owners to rely on personal generators. Mencias said that eventually the levels normalized, and the company was able to meet the demand once again. Yesterday, however, the power supply was cut off once again. This time, because of malfunctioning equipment.
John Mencias
“However, yesterday early in the morning, we started to encounter, voltage fluctuations at or Mascal substation, which supplies San Pedro. And when we further investigated on site we found that there was leakage and there was smoking of one of the major components of the transformer. And we had to move quickly to protect the transformer. And we had to drop the entire circuit that feeds San Pedro. That is from ten twenty. We realized very quickly that we could not do anything about fixing the transformer in the meantime and we moved quickly to deploy a mobile transformer. That we have in place to the Mascal substation.”
After several hours, BEL employees were finally able to replace the faulty transformer and restore power to the island.
John Mencias
“We started to move right away. It took us about two and a half to three hours to dismantle that mobile substation. I say transformer. It’s actually a full substation. It was by mile eight the George Price Highway. It took us another five hours to transport that because it is huge and wide. It could not go through the normal route to Mascal. It had to go all the way up to Carmelita and then down along the old Northern Highway. And even two of the bushings on that mobile substation broke. Had it not been for that, we would have been able to get back San Pedro online by about nine thirty last night. Remember, from ten twenty in the morning, we up to then, we actually got back online until forty-eight minutes after midnight, which is this morning.”
Mencias said that the company is going to repair the transformer that caused the power outage as the mobile substation used to restore power is just a temporary solution and is at max capacity.
John Mencias
“What we’re doing now, we have brought in some help from a contractor based in Guatemala who specializes in fixing those components. I think he should be here today. One of their representatives is here today. And we hope to get the transformer back in service within the next three to four weeks. But in the meantime, the mobile substation is capable of supplying the capacity out there. I will see the demand out there. I will say, though, that mobile substation is at its capacity limit, too, so we will have to continue to manage the man in San Pedro. So that is the San Pedro situation. We also had a transmission line failure. Go to that before the day before that.”
Among the issues with the equipment, BEL’s largest power supplier CFE has been unable to provide power to Belize, resulting in several power outages across the country. Minister of Tourism and Diaspora relations, Anthony Mahler said that he is hopeful the issue can be rectified soon.
Anthony Mahler
Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism & Diaspora Relations
“Hotels. The bigger ones do, yes. It is problematic for us, but. We had a discussion in cabinet yesterday about it, and BEL is working feverishly to try to rectify the situation. It’s not the best situation. We’re still in high season right now, per se. We believe that we’ll get the solutions implemented pretty soon.”
Reporter
“But we see these constant blackouts happening, and they may continue because of Mexico’s load shedding. Is there anything being done to ensure that tourists don’t have to endure this?”
Anthony Mahler
“We’re talking to Mexico as well. And so hopefully this can be rectified sooner rather than later.”
The Belize Electricity Limited is figuring out how it will navigate through the dilemma of maintaining the country’s power supply. Out in San Pedro where the tourism season is still at its peak, there are concerns of potential health issues should people consume perishables that have gone bad. This evening, Area Representative Andre Perez says that he looks to B.E.L. to solve the issue, but he wants other questions answered as well.
Via phone: Andre Perez, Area Representative, Belize Rural South
“Many things come into play, though. We’re talking about all kinds of things, even health issues come into play, especially with the heat right now. You have a lot of food poisoning. You’re hearing people dumping things out of their fridge. It’s very serious and it’s cause for concern, and I am just afraid that this can be something looming up ahead and the way how the B.E.L company is letting us know that they are going to be load-shedding out over the country and says that there is a problem and we need to address it. We’re extremely concerned as it relates to tourism as well – extremely important. Of course, this is still the busy season. This is not the slow season as yet because we are very busy and extremely concerned. According to what we have been briefed, B.E.L. is pushing aggressively to install a massive generator here on Ambergris Caye. I think it’s about a 20-megawatt-sized generator, and they’re saying that they’re hoping that they can have it up and running by the end of May, and we are hopeful. Two things here: one is that this is fossil fuel type of generator, which is not really helping at all in terms of what we are as a community that’s trying to move away from fossil fuels, right, in terms of electricity. But secondly, given the urgency of it, it needs to be installed because I’m telling you, it would be grief if we get affected here furthermore, and It can threaten not only the tourism sector, but indeed our economy. While you might blame Mexico for not providing, we have to look as well at the infrastructure. What has B.E.L done in the past 15 years? What caused these problems because the three outages caused is not by C.F.E, which is the Mexican Commission that provides electricity. It is showing that it is part of the infrastructure. So this is a concern firstly, as I see it, we have a concern here as it relates to the infrastructure that has not been addressed. And I think it’s manifesting itself now that San Pedro is actually consuming so much energy at this point in time.”
Marion Ali
Are people buying their own generators?
Andre Perez
“Lots of people have been buying up the generators right now, but that’s an additional expense that we don’t need, but we have to deal with it. When you drive around town here – yesterday when it was in the dark, a lot of people had these generators running, but this is a cost that nobody’s budgeting for, so it’s serious and healthwise.”
Over the past several weeks, residents across the country have been experiencing power outages that span from a few minutes to several hours. On Wednesday, residents of San Pedro underwent an exceptionally long outage which clocked in at around fourteen hours. These outages are the result of several factors, namely B.E.L.’s largest energy provider, CFE is no longer able to provide Belize with fifty-five megawatts of power as Mexico is facing its own energy crisis. C.E.O. John Mencias explained what B.E.L. plans to do to rectify the situation immediately.
John Mencia
John Mencia, C.E.O., Belize Electricity Ltd.
“But immediately, what do we have in place? Immediately. What we have in place is that we’re upgrading or gas turbine. As I said at mile eight. And that is expected to come back online by early next week. It was originally at nineteen megawatts. It’s being upgraded to thirty megawatts. So next week, thirty megawatts of additional capacity is coming online. Once that comes online, we will be able to bridge the generation shortage that we’re experiencing right now. And then, by the end of May, we’ll be adding another twenty megawatts of capacity gas turbine in San Pedro. So that will, that means that by the end of me, we’re compared to where we are now, we’re putting back or we’re installing on the grid 50 megawatts of additional capacity that will put us in a position to be able to meet peak demand. Well, beyond. The next twelve months and more than likely up to about eighteen months. And what that does, it gives us a window, but only a window to start to put in place and we must move immediately to put in place the capacity. The additional capacity that I just spoke to you about the additional solar, the battery storage solutions. And our wind, wind power plant as well. Of the past few weeks, Belize has undergone several disruptions in power. So that is what it does. Now, once we put the additional 20 megawatts of gas turbine capacity on San Pedro, it means that if we ever lose that cable, or we have a problem with the transformers we did last night, we will be able to resort to generation from the gas turbine that will be in San Pedro. Because the demand on San Pedro, we are seeing is increasing. Is probably around eighteen megawatts. The capacity of that gas turbine is about twenty megawatts that we be installing in San Pedro.”
B.E.L. has commenced routine load shedding, which limits power in various areas of the country. Today, several parts of Belize City will experience the scheduled outages as the company attempts to manage the capacity. B.E.L. General Manager Jose Moreno explained what we can expect of this scheduled outage.
Jose Moreno, General Manager, Belize Electricity Ltd.
“As I think we have explained earlier, we have prepared a program or a schedule for load shedding based on a forecast, on a demand forecast that we have prepared for the day. That demand forecast establishes more or less how much demand we’re going to do by hour. Based on the generation availability at that hour, and given the restrictions imposed to us by the lack of supply from, the lack of adequate supply from CFE, and our own generation sources, then we established, you know, a plan, Taking into consideration areas that we can, where can we can do early, where it is better to do later at night and also we take into consideration the size of those areas, the size of those heaters. Belize City, I know it’s a business district, so we’re trying to, if we need to, because we need to right now, especially right now at three o’clock, We are going to be short of about thirty megawatts. That is, that calls for the outage of an entire Belize city. We’re not going to do that. So, if we touch areas in Belize City, we’ll do it at an earlier time than what we would do on a rural area. So, I think we have prepared a proposed schedule that I think Customer Care and PR have already shared with, with our customers and employees. And if the load materializes, if those restrictions continue, then those load sharing schedules are affected. So it’s something that is fluid, right? Let’s say to, in the next hour or so, we lose one of our generation sources. It will need to be adjusted. But, overall, we will follow a plan that takes into consideration the sensitivities of the areas where we plan to do. There are some areas that we did not expect to launch in Belize City at Six. That’s where the hospital is where the hospitals are. Areas of government offices in Belmopan. Health centers, police stations, and so on. So we take into consideration those areas. Areas that we might have of concern with respect to crime. So we are very conscious and we put all of those factors into the plan.”
Over the last few days, we have been reporting an increase in cartel activities in neighboring Chetumal. Two hundred military personnel were deployed to Chetumal earlier in the week following the daylight murder of a businessman and an active-duty police officer on busy streets in the city. There are growing concerns that this spike in violent crimes at the hands of cartel elements will spill over into Belize. Also, Belizeans are avoiding travelling into Chetumal for the usual leisure and business. Oscar Arnold, Belize’s Ambassador to Mexico says the surge in cartel activities within the city is being fueled by a feud between rival gangs. He advised Belizeans to observe some caution if they are traveling across the northern border. Chetumal falls within the Mexican state of Quintana Roo which is a tourist hub. So, will these recent occurrences in Chetumal affect the flow of tourism dollars from Belize? And are there Belizeans who also stand to lose? News Five’s Paul Lopez travelled across the border into Chetumal today to find out firsthand how things have changed over the last week. Here is that report.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
A military crackdown in Chetumal, amidst a recent spike in cartel violence, has raised concerns among Belizeans. On Monday, two hundred military personnel arrived in Chetumal in artillery vehicles and a helicopter to assist local authorities in their crime-fighting efforts. Annually, thousands of Belizeans travel into Mexico for leisure and business. Today, we are in the neighboring city to find out how great of a concern these recent developments are to those travelling to Chetumal.
Liseth Casimiro
Liseth Casimiro, Belizean Travelling to Chetumal
“We hear about the crime right but it is like, if you nuh involved in them kinda thing deh you nuh wah fraid. We have been over there this week and we had no issues, everything is calm and we had no issue with those people. So, i think everything should be fine.”
We met Liseth Casimiro at the Corozal/Mexico border heading to Chetumal. She told us that this is her second trip across the border this week, as she exchanged her Belizean dollars for Mexican pesos from a money changer or “peseros” at the border. One peseros told us that his business is already feeling the negative effects of the reports of increased cartel activities in Chetumal.
Voice of: President of Northern Peseros Cooperative
Voice of: President of Northern Peseros Cooperative
“Of course I think and strongly believe that everyone is concerned about the situation, not only we as money exchangers. And, in reality we are working here and we have seen a drastic change, a drastic decline of Belizeans going over to the Mexican side, especially in the hours of five in the evening. We have seen a decline drastically.”
Paul Lopez
“Is that usually the peek hour?”
Voice of: President of Northern Peseros Cooperative
“For people going over yes.”
Pablo Guerra
Pablo Guerra, Peseros
“I think that maybe it is not too afraid to go to Chetumal right now. The thing is you must take care right now. We hear that maybe they have the cartels in Chetumal and they might come here, but we have to trust in God first. If we go to Chetumal we have to carry God with us.”
Another Belizean we spoke with off camera was traveling from Cayo to pick up a relative at the airport in Chetumal. He told us that his decision to venture into Chetumal today was only out of necessity.
Voice of: Cayo Resident
Voice of: Cayo Resident
“We have concerns about what is going on, but we the go out of need, because we the pick up my sister at the aiport in Chetumal so that is the only reason we the hurry guh deh. From what we understand if you stay during the day and not at night everything should be ok and you stay weh the crowd deh nuh.”
Perhaps the upside to the decreased traffic going across the border is the expedited way travel documents are processed both on the Belize and Mexico sides. We then travelled into Chetumal, Mexico. A police checkpoint is situated only a short distance from the border crossing. Our first stop was at Plaza Las America, a popular mall in the city frequented by Belizeans. The next stop was the New Market where Belizean bus operators park their buses. Belizeans gather at this market when commuting to and from Chetumal using public transportation. Here we found out that bus operators have also seen a decline in commuters.
Voice of: Bus Operator, Chell’s Bus Service
Voice of: Bus Operator, Chell’s Bus Service
“We only bring two persons yesterday and one person today and today is suppose to be a busy day and nothing the happen.”
Paul Lopez
“And you think it is because of the crime?”
Voice of Bus Operator
“I don’t know sir.”
Paul Lopez
“And how do you feel being in Chetumal right now?”
Voice of Bus Operator
“I nuh feel no way because I come fih work. I nuh the do nobody nothing.”
Voice of: Bus Operator, Tillett’s Bus Service
Voice of: Bus Operator, Tillett’s Bus Service
“To be honest with you, you hear on the news that somebody the dead everyday. You hear a lot of sirens and a lot of things out here. Basically business decline a lot because usually dah market you have six busses and the bus operators they afraid to come across because of the same reason.”
Paul Lopez
“Do you think there is a great cause for all of this concern right now?
Voice of: Bus Operator
“The thing is I have twenty-five years over the border and if you look fih bad dah bad yo wah get. If you come and deal with your business and deal with what you have to deal with you dont have to worry about nothing. But if you come dah Chet come party and do all you nuh have to do well obviously you will find your own demise nuh.”
To get a local perspective on the situation with the reported cartel activities in Chetumal, we sat down with Rafaela Flota, inside the New Market. She is a resident of the city, and she operates a food business along with her sisters in the market.
Rafaela Flota
Rafaela Flota, Chetumal Resident
“Actually I think that the whole city is very worried about this situation and we think that it will affect us with tourism.”
Paul Lopez
“Why is this happening right now in Chetumal?”
Rafaela Flota
“I think it is a fight with the cartels. I think they are looking for the plasas. a lot of people in Chetumal is very concerned.”
Paul Lopez
“What is your advice to Belizeans when they come to Chetumal now? Should they do something to protect themselves?”
Rafaela Flota
“I think that with the people that are not in problems, they are safe.”
Paul Lopez
“Are there places you shouldn’t go, some places you shouldn’t go when in Chetumal?”
Rafaela Flota
“We don’t know about that because the crime is in the streets, it is anywhere and everywhere.”
And if you go looking for an increased presence of law enforcement officers in Chetumal City, it won’t take long to spot a police mobile speeding down a main avenue with sirens on. The heightened sense of security became more evident as we drove from one location to another. But amidst the reports of increased cartel activities and the evident surge in police and military presence, there are Belizeans who are not deterred.
Keon Soberanis
Keon Soberanis, Belizean in Chetumal
“It is an every day route for me. I come here to eat. I come here to enjoy myself, to do little shopping for myself. So it is a regular little trip for me everyday. I feel kinda scared sometimes right. I heard the news and haven’t been here for like two weeks. But I came today and it is not like what people are saying right.”
Ivan Middleton
Ivan Middleton, Belizean in Chetumal
“Honestly, coming from a humble place I still could actually forward and make my way through because either way I still would make it through.”
Paul Lopez
“Now what has been your experience been like over the last few day?”
Ivan Middleton
“Well it has been calm. I have not experience much crime and violence. It was calm where we were, we were in Calderitas, a little bit down from Chetumal and where the crime is happening so.”
Mister Tillett
Mister Tillett, Orange Walk Resident
“As I get in on the border I start ask questions and everybody I talked to say that the people who local and come here have no risk right, so I nuh fraid yet.”
