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Alfredo Ortega, Chairman - BSCFA
"It took us by surprise when he announced that the sugar industry was removed from Minister Mai and we clearly know how Mr. Mai was really working very hard with us in these five years or four years and a half that he was there as minister of Agriculture. We want to be very clear where we will be moving from here, because since the Prime Minister is the minister now in charge, we want to know what will be the plans and what will be the moves from now on being him in charge know of the sugar industry. We are not looking for any confrontation."

"And what we want is that we get the benefit of what our farmers really, really looking for, that there is that equity, that there is a just balance that our farmers should get. That is where we have this concern because as you can clearly see, what were the words of the Prime Minister when he said that he had to fly to an emergency meeting in Miami with the owners of ASR."

"So those are things that really put us to think about what were the the decisions, what were the the points that were brought in to him and why he had to fly over there. Because whenever we ask him to come with us at those times when Mr. Mai was the minister, it was we had a very hard time to meet with the Prime Minister in those times."

"So we don't know exactly what were the arrangements on his on his meeting with with them. He has not said anything about that. And that is what really put us in this situation, that we don't know what they agreed on. But what we are asking for is that he now that holds that position as the minister in charge of sugar be not all in favor to the cane farmers, but at least that the industry become an industry where all of us can work with trust that there can be transparency."

Ortega also shares the Commission of Inquiry Report with the press - which the government has still not done.

The Prime Minister has given no indication of if and when he will meet with the BSCFA.