_{Prime Minister of Belize, Hon. John Briceño}

by Charles Gladden

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Mar. 27, 2025

The Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association (BSCFA) is upset with the Prime Minister of Belize, Hon. John Briceño, as the Sugar Ministry was stripped away from its previous holder, Hon. Jose Mai, and will now fall under the Office of the Prime Minister.

When the announcement was made some weeks ago, it wouldn’t have been caught by the untrained eye, as Mai retained his Agriculture, Food Security & Enterprise portfolio, while others would have noticed that he wouldn’t be running Sugar, but the PM will.

Adding salt to the wound, the ministry will be run by the newly elected Minister of State in the Ministry of Economic Development, Hon. Dr. Osmond Martinez. On March 19, during an appearance on a local morning show, PM Briceño explained the change which reportedly came after he attended an emergency meeting in Miami on February 6 with owners and managers of ASR due to issues within Belize and its sugar industry.

That meeting resulted in Minister Mai getting stripped of that responsibility and Minister Martinez taking it up.

“We took it on, simply because I felt that we need to show that we’re giving it the most important priority by having it under the office of the prime minister; and I brought Honorable Martinez, who is a trained economist and that can be able to give it the attention, and then working along with us, that we could be able to hopefully steer it through this existential threat that it is going through at this time,” he said in an interview on XTV on Wednesday, March 26.

The letter issued by BSCFA raised questions as to the alleged concerns that were brought up by ASR and the influence of portfolio assignments within the Cabinet. They also called this move “political interference,” noting that when they sought help from the Government to intervene in negotiations with ASR, they had refused.

It went on to state that while Hon. Dr. Martinez has the credentials for the job, he doesn’t have the experience and knowledge of what the cane farmers are going through, and Minister Mai has fit the bill for all of them.

The letter from the Committee of Management of BSCFA expressed their “serious concern” repeatedly with the PM’s decision, also using words like “seriously disconcerting”, “profound discontent”, and the “alarming decision” to remove the sugar portfolio from Minister Mai, whom they regarded as a “steadfast advocate”, a “passionate and effective voice”, who “has the background and understanding of the challenges faced by cane farmers.”     

Moreover, the BSCFA letter expressed their genuine concern that: “The shift in leadership within the portfolio risks exacerbating the already difficult situation for cane farmers, who will now find themselves at the mercy of multinational interests rather than supported by a government that champions their rights and well-being.”

In seeking a response to the letter issued by the BSCFA, local reporters caught up with PM Briceño on Thursday, March 27, in Orange Walk Town, and he described the letter as disrespectful, but kept his stand on his decision.

“I am going to be kind to the BSCFA. First of all, they’re not the Prime Minister! If Fred Ortega or any of them want to be Prime Minister, to put their name on a ballot, and someday they can make the decisions. When I make decisions in setting up a Cabinet, I try to look from different angles so where I think I could best get, I could put the best team forward. I believe that that’s exactly what I have done. I have reasons why I brought up the sugar industry, and under my position, the industry is in crisis, and we have to make it a high priority. If they can’t realize that the industry is in crisis, they are the problem, because they are in crisis themselves as an association,” he explained.