When the prime minister of our country sees the need to travel abroad with the intention of holding a meeting with major business or political leaders of foreign origin, whose areas of interest can significantly impact our nation, it should be a matter of concern for all Belizeans. For better or worse, it is the interest of all Belizeans whatever would be the outcome of such a meeting and discussion. When such a meeting is held without our knowledge, and the nation is only informed after the fact, the revelation does not bring much comfort or confidence to that portion of the electorate who are “swing voters” or Opposition-leaning. That our prime minister saw fit to meet unannounced with the perceived “bull” in our sugar industry’s “China shop” is noteworthy; and his declaration that he has just received a mandate to lead, which certain critics in the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association (BSCFA) don’t have, suggests a bit of frustration in our P.M., and lends to our early suspicion that his recent call for early elections may have to do with some big problems he might be foreseeing for the Belize economy in coming months.  Our usually humble and patient P.M. must be under tremendous pressure, because his response to a strong and emotional letter from the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association (BSCFA) had a confrontational and impatient tone. We hope the fences can be mended on both sides soon, because sugar is still our country’s chief foreign exchange earner, and when our sugar is not “sweet” up north, the whole of Belize is left with a bitter taste.   

It is no secret that things have not been rosy in negotiations between the sole millers of Belize’s sugar cane crop, the multinational ASR/BSI factory in Orange Walk, and the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association, the largest group of Belizean sugar cane farmers. The former Cabinet minister responsible for the sugar industry, Hon. Jose Abelardo Mai, wore two hats: one as the minister of government responsible to oversee the negotiations between ASR/BSI and the BSCFA, and the other as a cane farmer himself. In those meetings, which have yet to produce a new commercial agreement, the cane farmers felt that their cause was being adequately championed by Minister Mai, who fearlessly spoke “truth to power” in his dealings with ASR/BSI. After much back and forth, and a seemingly intransigent position on both sides, ASR/BSI reluctantly agreed for a Commission of Inquiry, which the cane farmers were hopeful would show the areas in which the factory was not giving the cane farmers a fair deal on their cane. With the 2025 crop already under way and a new commercial agreement still to be signed, news that the Commission of Inquiry had concluded its investigations and presented its findings suggested that the ball would soon be rolling toward a successful commercial agreement.

It is in such a climate of optimism and anticipation, with Minister Mai taking on the aura of a potential hero to cane farmers, should a satisfactory commercial agreement be finally achieved, that P.M. Briceño announced his new Cabinet, and a transfer of oversight of the sugar industry from the portfolio of Minister Mai, who will no longer hold responsibility for sugar. And a two-page letter unleashed all the doubts and fears and misgivings of the BSCFA Council of Management over P.M. Briceño’s decision, which they understand followed on the heels of his recently revealed meeting in Miami with the principals of ASR/BSI. Their conclusion is that ASR/BSI was not happy with Mai, and the P.M. acquiesced to their wishes.

What P.M. Briceño told the BSCFA in response to their missive, is somewhat similar to what U.S. President Trump threw at Ukraine Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelenskyy, about his not having many “cards.” With a landslide victory in the recent general elections, P.M. Briceño felt empowered to voice his own frustration with the continued demands of the BSCFA in the face of the intransigent cane milling company which has many “cards”, being a huge multinational that could impact the sale of Belize’s sugar in more ways than one. Some goodwill is still needed, must be the view of P.M. Briceño; and with ASR/BSI already having hinted at their patience running thin in Belize, he apparently concluded that, regardless of the immediate political backlash from disappointed cane farmers, “the buck stops” with the prime minister, and he was taking charge of this crisis. For Belize’s sake, we pray that his decision turns out to be visionary.

And it is not as if Minister Mai has been abandoned or embarrassed by this move. Sometimes, in a crisis situation, it is best to have someone who is not too emotionally involved at the helm. Perhaps the P.M. felt that the warrior vibes and macho stance of Minister Mai were not getting positive results from BSI/ASR. Besides, it is not as if sugar was the only major issue on Minister Mai’s plate. The New World Screw Worm crisis is growing, with serious implications for the livestock industry. And food security was never more a top priority, with the very volatile international climate in the Middle East, and the arbitrary tariff war recently unleashed by the U.S. With the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security & Enterprise still under his headship, Hon. Jose Abelardo Mai may well be breathing a sigh of relief, when he comes to terms with the decision of his maximum leader to relieve his burden.                         

Belizean citizens, having returned the PUP to office on the strength of a very good report card for their previous four plus years in office, will be cautiously observing the situation, trusting that we will have no heartbreaks down the road, like we have had in the past with secret meetings.

Everyone has a private life, and political leaders do have a right and need for some privacy, family time, or recreation, away from the troubles and stress of local politics and the demands of struggling constituents and a nagging press. But the business of the nation is exactly that, and when a matter is so weighty as to require secrecy before and during the meeting of heads of government, or between our nation’s maximum leader and the principals of a major international business corporation, it is time for heightened alertness on the home turf.

In this modern 21st century world, huge international corporations are almost like foreign governments, in terms of their immense financial and operational tentacles, with operating budgets many times bigger than the GDP of little Belize. 

When former P.M. Barrow travelled to Miami in late 2015 on “personal business,” Belizeans were accommodating, considering it fair for the P.M. to look about his personal health and well-being. It was only after he had returned to the Jewel, and made some big announcements, that Belizeans learned that he and his private law partner had sat in a hotel room in Miami with Lord Michael Ashcroft and cut a deal for the Government to re-acquire BTL from the Ashcroft Alliance at an ultimate cost of over half a billion dollars. The legality of that transaction was questioned by then PUP Opposition leaders, but in Belize’s parliamentary democracy, the power of a prime minister is immense; and not only did P.M. Barrow sweep the “done deal” through parliament, but he quickly called a snap election, and used the supposedly wonderful deal for Belize in regaining BTL as a major plank in his UDP government’s successful campaign for re-election.  

Of course, the situations are quite different: P.M. Barrow’s move was in preparation for his planned upcoming snap election, a fine display of “master of the games”, where he gained political points from the optics of what then appeared to be a sweet deal for Belizeans; P.M. Briceño’s questionable meeting was announced after a grand landslide election victory, which has given him ample political capital to endure some criticism from cane farmers and other citizens who may see his removal of Minister Mai from the sugar quarrel as some sort of bowing down to the American multinational company.

There is a new political season getting underway, and any points lost by the PUP in this sugar skirmish may well be matched by points gained by a rejuvenated UDP, if, as expected, they soon re-emerge as “united and strong”. Three-peat in 2030 will be a great challenge for the PUP; and government’s handling of the ongoing sugar crisis, along with the uncertainty of the redistricting exercise, may weigh heavily on political scales going forward. The secret meeting in this early stage of P.M. Briceño’s second PUP administration may well soon “blow over”, but a word of caution: an informed electorate is always better than one prone to doubts and fears and speculation in these troubling times.