Dean Oliver Barrow, SC PC (born March 2, 1951) is a politician from

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wa ...

who served as

prime minister of Belize The following article contains a list of Prime Ministers of Belize and Deputy Prime Ministers, from the establishment of the position of First Minister of British Honduras in 1961 to the present day. Office of the Prime Minister of Belize The ...

from 2008 until 2020 and as leader of Belize's United Democratic Party. An attorney by profession, Barrow served as Belize's

deputy prime minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

and minister of foreign affairs from 1993 to 1998 and was

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

from 1998 until the UDP won the February 2008 election. Barrow was elected to his first term as prime minister in 2008. He started his second term after the UDP again won an election on March 7, 2012 and his third term when the UDP won again on November 4, 2015.

Early life and education

Barrow was born and raised in

Belize City Belize City is the largest city in Belize and was once the capital of the former British Honduras. According to the 2010 census, Belize City has a population of 57,169 people in 16,162 households. It is at the mouth of the Haulover Creek, wh ...

British Honduras British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973,

(now Belize). He attended the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...

, where he graduated with a degree in economics and political science.

Legal career

Following his graduation from the University of Miami, Barrow returned to

, where he entered the legal profession in 1974, working with his maternal uncle

Dean Lindo Dean Russel Lindo (4 September 1932 – 17 September 2018) was a Belizean attorney and politician. He was one of the principal founders of the United Democratic Party in 1973 and served as its first leader from 1974 to 1979.Rodwell Williams Rodwell Roosevelt Adlai Williams (born 29 September 1956) is a Belizean lawyer. He is a name partner, along with Prime Minister of Belize and United Democratic Party leader Dean Barrow, in the Belize City law firm Barrow & Williams. Major case ...

). He left the firm in 2008, but maintains the title of senior partner. Among his firms' more controversial clients was Lord Ashcroft and Ashcroft's associated businesses, including Belize Bank and

Belize Telemedia Limited Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL), formerly Belize Telecommunications Limited, is a telecommunications company in Belize. Established in 1972 as the Telecommunications Authority, it rapidly became Belize's leading telecommunication provider in th ...

(formerly Belize Telecommunications Limited).

Political career

In December 1983, Barrow entered electoral politics as a candidate in

's elections for city council, which he won as part of a nine-man slate. Before that year's redistricting, in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

Barrow was preselected as the UDP candidate for

Collet A collet is a segmented sleeve, band or ''collar''. One of the two radial surfaces of a collet is usually tapered (i.e a truncated cone) and the other is cylindrical. The term ''collet'' commonly refers to a type of chuck that uses collets t ...

but after redistricting chose to contest the newly created Queen's Square constituency instead, as was his prerogative under UDP party rules. In the ensuing election Barrow handily defeated

Ralph Fonseca Ralph Henry Fonseca (born 9 August 1949) is a Belizean politician and a member of the People's United Party. Political history In 1984, he became a candidate for the House of Representatives in Queen's Square, running against attorney and ci ...

of the

People's United Party The People's United Party (PUP) is one of two major political parties in Belize. It is currently the governing party of Belize after success in the 2020 Belizean general election, winning a majority of 26 seats out of 31 in the Belizean House ...

. Soon after he was appointed to the first

Manuel Esquivel Sir Manuel Amadeo Esquivel (2 May 1940 – 10 February 2022) was a Belizean politician. As leader of the United Democratic Party, he served as Prime Minister from 1984 to 1989, and then again from 1993 to 1998. His party's victory in 1984 was ...

Cabinet as

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

and Minister of Foreign Affairs. In the 1989 general election, Barrow defeated Thomas Greenwood but his party lost the election. Barrow continued in his law practice. In 1990, he became deputy UDP leader under Esquivel after the death of

Curl Thompson Curl Osmond Thompson was a Belizean politician. Thompson served as an Area Representative in the Belize House of Representatives and as Deputy Prime Minister. He was also interim leader of the United Democratic Party for a brief period in the e ...

. In 1993, Barrow won his third straight general election and returned to the Cabinet in the posts he held from the previous administration in addition to Minister of National Security. His detractors called him "Minister of Everything" during this period because he was a particularly high-profile spokesman for the Esquivel government. After the UDP's devastating 1998 election loss in which he was one of only three UDP winners, Barrow was elevated to UDP party leader and

, succeeding the defeated Esquivel. Barrow presided over the smallest oppositions (three and seven respectively) in the House of Representatives since 1974 and ever in the UDP's history. Barrow was reelected in 1998 and 2003 by closer margins than his previous elections over attorney Richard "Dickie" Bradley. He has since been re-elected by comfortable majorities. Prior to his retirement in 2020, Barrow was the most senior member of the UDP delegation in the Belize House as well as the Area Representative with the longest tenure of uninterrupted service. Among other Area Representatives, only

Said Musa Said Wilbert Musa (, born 19 March 1944) is a Belizean lawyer and politician. He was the Prime Minister of Belize from 28 August 1998 to 8 February 2008. Early life and education Said Wilbert Musa was born in 1944 in San Ignacio in the Cayo D ...

has had a longer cumulative time in office.

Prime Minister of Belize

The UDP won a massive victory, with 25 out of 31 seats, in the general election held on 7 February 2008, and Barrow was sworn in as Prime Minister on 8 February. He is the country's first black Prime Minister. He announced his Cabinet, including himself as

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

, on 11 February. The UDP won a reduced majority in the 2012 general election and Barrow started his second term as Prime Minister on 9 March 2012. He announced his cabinet, including himself as the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, on 12 March 2012. Barrow led the UDP to a third consecutive general election victory in November 2015, however he stated the election would be his last as party leader.Parks, Rowland A
"General elections no later than 'first part of next year' – PM Barrow"
''

Amandala ''Amandala'' is a Belizean tabloid newspaper. Published twice weekly, it is Belize's largest newspaper. ''Amandala'' was established in 1969 as the print organ of the now-defunct United Black Association for Development (UBAD), but has been polit ...

'', 4 September 2015. (accessed 27 September 2015)

Retirement in 2020

Citing health issues, Barrow initially said he would step down as prime minister no later than the end of 2019 and hinted he could do so earlier."P.M. Gone? Not Yet, But He is Thinking About It"
''

Great Belize Television Great Belize Television, or as it is locally known, Channel 5, is a Belize City-based local television station established in December 1991. Channel 5 airs mostly American and Caribbean programs, as well as a variety of locally produced programs. ...

'', 12 May 2017. (accessed 21 May 2017) However, on 18 November 2018, Barrow's Cabinet urged him to remain as Prime Minister of Belize until the

2020 Belizean general election General elections were held in Belize on 11 November 2020 to elect the 31 members of the House of Representatives. Nomination day was 21 October. The People's United Party achieved its first national election victory since 2003, winning 26 seats ...

. He said that he would take that move. A convention to name Barrow's successor as UDP party leader was tentatively scheduled for May 2019, but in August 2019, the UDP postponed the date to 9 February 2020."PM Barrow gives timeline for departure"
''

Breaking Belize News Breaking Belize News, also known as BBN, is an online news outlet that provides breaking news on Belize, the Caribbean, and Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are def ...

'', 16 May 2018. (accessed 8 October 2018) There were two confirmed candidates for the leadership convention, with the first one being

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

, Patrick Faber and the other being National Security Minister, John Saldivar. Barrow also stood down from his House seat in Queen's Square in the 2020 general election, endorsing his sister, Denise "Sister B" Barrow, to succeed him.Ali, Marion V
"Barrow to hand over Queen Square to Sister B"
, ''The Reporter'', 4 December 2015. (accessed 22 May 2017)

Family

Barrow has four children. The oldest, born Jamal Barrow, is a former

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

who performed under the name Shyne. He has since changed his name to Moses Michael Levi Barrow. He was elected to the Belize House of Representatives with the center-right Belize United Democratic Party in the Belize City-based

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

constituency in the

."Standard Bearers – United Democratic Party"
'' Belize United Democratic Party'', (accessed February 19, 2020) He was subsequently also appointed the Opposition Leader in the House of Representatives and the leader of the Belize United Democratic Party, in both June 2021 (until September 2021) and February 2022. His second son Anwar runs a small-scale lending institution. His daughter Deanne practises law out of her mother's (Barrow's first wife Lois Young) firm. Barrow was married a second time 7 February 2009 in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

to his long-time girlfriend Kim Simplis."Belize prime minister will get married in Savannah"
Associated Press (''Atlanta Journal-Constitution''), 15 January 2009. They have one daughter, Salima.

Education

Barrow attended St. Michael's College in Belize and the

University of the West Indies at Cave Hill University of the West Indies at Cave Hill is a public research university in Cave Hill, Barbados. It is one of five general campuses in the University of the West Indies system. It was the third campus to be established by the UWI System, follow ...

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estima ...

(LL.B. 1973); Norman Manley Law School, Mona, Kingston, Jamaica (Certificate of Legal Education, 1975);

University of Miami School of Law The University of Miami School of Law (Miami Law or UM Law) is the law school of the University of Miami, a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. Founded in 1926, the University of Miami School of Law is the oldest law school ...

(LL.M., 1981);

(M.A. International Relations).

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Barrow, Dean 1951 births Living people People from Belize City United Democratic Party (Belize) politicians Prime Ministers of Belize Deputy Prime Ministers of Belize Finance ministers of Belize Foreign ministers of Belize Attorneys-General of Belize Members of the Belize House of Representatives for Queen's Square Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom 21st-century heads of government in North America Belizean lawyers University of Miami alumni University of Miami School of Law alumni People associated with the Norman Manley Law School