BRICEÑO WATCH SPECIAL:

By Omar Silva |Editor/Publisher

National Perspective Belize Digital 2025

www.nationalperspectivebz.com

Belize City: Monday 17th November 2025

I. From Rumor to Resignation

The political earth under Prime Minister John Briceño shifted this afternoon when José Abelardo Mai—long-time Minister of Agriculture and the man who oversaw Belize’s Commercial Free Zones—resigned from Cabinet.

Government sources confirm that the resignation letter reached the Prime Minister’s desk under “firm persuasion,” amid quiet but persistent pressure from Washington.

Mai’s exit comes only weeks after a torrent of revelations out of southern Mexico linking the Caborca Cartel to operations inside the Corozal Free Zone and to a network of Belizean commercial and political figures. The Mexican press had placed Mai at the centre of those allegations—a charge he furiously denied in October, calling the reports “highly defamatory” and accusing “fake-news media and UDP agents” of orchestrating a smear.

Today, those denials collide with reality: the Minister is gone.

II. The Mexican Files and the Quiet Corridor

Since early October, two investigative outlets—Noticias Zona Sur de Quintana Roo and Noticias de Impacto Zona Sur—have traced the footprint of the Caborca Cartel from Subteniente López (Mexican Santa Elena) across the river into Belize’s Corozal Free Zone.

They described a syndicate moving contraband under the protection of both Mexican and Belizean officials, with Valerio “Monkey” Bustillos identified as the field commander.

When Mexico’s three-level security forces raided Subteniente López on October 14-15, drones spotted suspects fleeing toward the Belizean side, seeking refuge at the Casino Las Vegas Hotel—a property squarely within Belizean jurisdiction.

That same facility, according to sources, houses permanent Caborca residents, allegedly beyond the reach of either government’s enforcement arms.

In the aftermath, Belizean authorities declared a red-alert posture following death threats issued against the elite “Los Dragones” unit, whose earlier operation in the Free Zone had intercepted a Caborca shipment.

III. A Minister Under Siege

For weeks, Mai’s political survival depended on the silence of the Cabinet.

But U.S. diplomatic attention changed that balance. Washington’s narcotics-transit designation for Belize, renewed on September 15 in the FY-2026 Presidential Determination, raised questions about the government’s tolerance of criminal penetration in its trade gateways.

By late October, according to senior party insiders, Prime Minister Briceño was warned that U.S. confidence in Belize’s anti-narcotics posture was eroding.

Mai’s continued presence in Cabinet risked being read internationally as defiance. The pressure built quietly—until resignation became the only exit.

IV. The Broader Picture: Caborca Untouched

Even as a minister falls, the Caborca machine remains intact on both sides of the border.

Mexican raids have been sporadic; Belize’s enforcement has been minimal.

Intelligence sources in Chetumal and Corozal confirm that the cartel’s logistics and money channels continue through shell trading companies registered in the Free Zone, their principals shielded by legitimate fronts and political patrons.

The resignation of a minister may quench political optics, but it does not dismantle the network that thrives in Belize’s blind spot between commerce and crime.

V. The Prime Minister’s Test

John Briceño now faces a defining question:

Will this be treated as a scandal contained, or as a signal to clean house?

If the resignation ends in a reshuffle without investigation, Belize will have only proven what many already suspect—that power changes hands, but impunity never does.

EDITORIAL NOTE (Legal Disclaimer)

This report consolidates information from Mexican investigative outlets Noticias Zona Sur de Quintana Roo (October 1 and 15, 2025) and Noticias de Impacto Zona Sur (October 11 and 15, 2025), as well as official U.S. State Department narcotics-control publications.           

National Perspective Belize publishes this material in the public interest. Cross-border criminal activity remains a national security concern. NP Belize makes no independent allegations of wrongdoing, and all individuals are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.