And that is just fine by the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association. The "wait and see" approach gives them some latitude to negotiate in a very pressurized situation, and also it offers them the opportunity at plausible deniability; meaning that, until some big farmer actually signs a contract, BSCFA executives can still say that the farmers have not defected from the association, they are just hearing for themselves what BSI has to offer.
The Association held a meeting with its 18 directors this morning at its headquarters in Orange Walk Town - and after that they had a press briefing - as a prelude to a full press conference tomorrow. CEO Oscar Alonzo told us that they reject the BSI-ASR maneuver:..
Oscar Alonzo, CEO - BSCFA
"We view this matter with great concern okay. This new approach that BSI has embarked upon in order to try to settle a negotiation process and this is the thing that we will examine tomorrow and denounce the ruthless, manner in which ASR/BSI, an American transnational cooperation in now trying to introduce a new mode of economic activity that has serious implications for the future and the welfare of the cane farmers."
Jules Vasquez
"Are you concern that BSI/ASR is moving so swiftly that it may take the cane farmers support from behind the BSCFA?"
Representative - BSCFA
"The farmers that were present today, they were contacting their respective branch directors before they go and they re-advise them to go 
to be informed and many of them said that they will not be signing anything yet until the BSCFA advise them what will be the arrangement that we will be doing with BSI."
Oscar Alonzo, CEO - BSCFA
"We have always encourage our members to seek information from all sources in order to make the proper decision that will ensure their wellbeing and protect their interest. So we have not deterred the farmers from assisting in these as BSI calls them pre-harvest conferences."
Mike Rudon, CH5
"Do you consider this a crisis to the industry, for the association?"
Oscar Alonzo, CEO - BSCFA
"In our view it wouldn't be a crisis because as we will explain tomorrow we have provided a way out. It's up to BSI that will try to consider this way out."
The "way out" that the Cane Farmers Association proposes may well be an interim agreement - it's worked before - and by that reasoning, you might say, it could work again.
That proposal was put to BSI-ASR in a letter from the cane farmers association yesterday evening, but Mac Maclachlan says he's not interested:...
Mac McLachlan, V.P. Int'l Relations - ASR
"I don't think that an interim agreement is going to help us at this time."
Oscar Alonzo, CEO - BSCFA
"Well, he can express his objections right. We have seen that an interim agreement has been able to work."
Mac McLachlan
"I really don't see that having another interim agreement is going to help resolved the fundamental issues. We've reach an impasse on BSI on that. I think it's time we turn the page on bagasse, it cost this industry a tremendous amount of money over the last year through inactivity to plan for the future. We have major challenges for the industry coming ahead. I think at this stage it's time for us to negotiate a long term cane agreement."
ASR-BSI met with the Corozal Cane farmers this afternoon. The BSCFA will have its press conference tomorrow morning.
And if the alphabet soup of the powers that be in the cane constellation has you scratching your head - we sympathize, there are a lot of abbreviations.
And so to break it down…
First, ASR - is American Sugar Refining - the largest sugar refining company in the world and the relatively new majority shareholder in BSI - which is the Belize Sugar Industries, the company that produces every grain of sugar consumed in Belize and buys every stalk of cane produced by cane farmer sin the north.
And the BSCFA is the Belize sugar Cane Farmers Association - which represents all the 5,500 farmers through 18 branches.
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