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Economy

WHEN THE ENGINE OF THE ECONOMY RUNS ON EMPTY: If Government Can Afford Concessions for the Powerful, Why Can't It Afford Relief for the Productive?

 Special Feature

Belize City: Thursday 4th June 2026: Prime Minister John Briceño may have intended to embarrass the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry when he dismissed its appeal for fuel relief as "embarrassing" and "laughable math."

Instead, his response may have achieved something entirely different.

It may have opened the door to one of the most important economic debates Belize has faced in years.

“Beyond Political Soundbites: Belize’s Agricultural Crisis Demands a National Blueprint, Not Election Season Recycling”

Belize City: Saturday 23rd May 2026” There is indeed a deep hidden truth buried beneath all this emotional rhetoric surrounding sugarcane and diversification in Belize. And the truth is uncomfortable for both the political establishment and the economic system that has governed Belize since independence. Yes, former Minister of Agriculture Jose Abelardo Mai is speaking raw truths about the collapse of sustainability within the sugar industry for small farmers. On that narrow point, he is correct.