On October 30, the Prime Minister met with the US Charge d Affaires Katharine Beamer. Whatever was said in that meeting led the Prime Minister - who had just shuffled his cabinet days earlier - to force his Minister of Agriculture Jose Mai to resign from Cabinet - leading to the announcement of another portfolio reassignment after the meeting.
So what was discussed that triggered the Prime Minister to put one of his most trusted political allies on executive ice? Today when we asked Beamer, she said did not go into specifics apart from the issues with the narcotic trade.
Katharine Beamer, US Charge d Affaires
"I have an excellent relationship with all of the Belizean counterparts. Everyone here has been very warm and welcoming to me. I arrived here in Belize about three months ago. I spoke about a range of topics with the Prime Minister. I don't feel comfortable speaking about any specifics, but the United States and Belize enjoy a really robust partnership and certainly, you know, countering narcotics trafficking and, improving the relationship between Belize and the United States are some of my foremost priorities."
"Belize has for, you know, throughout recent memory, has featured on the majors list. So it is considered, a narcotics transportation hub, not hub necessarily, but it is a it is on the narcotics transport route. And so a lot of our work here in Belize is thwarting that illicit trafficking because it is on the path from the production sites in South America to the United States. So it's important for us that we continue to work with Belizean authorities to curb that flow."
Since Mai's departure the Prime Minister has said that he's on a leave of absence to get back surgery - while one senior minister and the Cabinet Secretary have both told us that he resigned.
Either way, Mai looked to be in fine, fighting form over the weekend when he hosted his divisional Christmas party. A post says, "Thank you for remembering the kids, Jose Abelardo Mai."
