Erwin Rafael "Winchi" Contreras (born 9 July 1966)

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

. (accessed 19 November 2014) is a Belizean politician and former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. From 2008 to 2012 he was the Minister of

Economic Development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

, Commerce, Industry and Consumer Protection in Belize. After the 2012 election he was made Minister of Trade Investment, Private Sector Development and Consumer Protection.

Biography

He was born in Benque Viejo del Carmen, Cayo District, Belize. At one point, Contreras was second in the line of succession to Prime Minister Dean Barrow, behind Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber. He belongs to the United Democratic Party. Contreras is a former member of the Belize national football team. He played in both of Belize's 1998 World Cup qualification games against

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

in 1996.

Electoral history

Contreras was first elected to the Belize House of Representatives in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, defeating Amin Hegar 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 2025 Belizean general election, winning a majority of 26 seats out of 31 in the Belizean Hou ...

by 10 votes. Bucking a national trend, Contreras was the only UDP candidate to defeat a PUP House incumbent in 1998 and one of only three UDP members elected nationwide that year.General Elections 1998
,

Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission The Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) is the primary electoral body in Belize. It supervises all local and national elections. The commission also establishes the boundaries of Belize's electoral divisions. Formation and duties The ...

. (accessed 19 November 2014) Contreras won re-election with at least 54 percent of the vote in every election through 2015. Contreras was defeated at 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 sea ...

by Jorge "Milon" Espat .

References

External links

* 1966 births Living people People from Benque Viejo del Carmen United Democratic Party (Belize) politicians Government ministers of Belize Members of the Belize House of Representatives for Cayo West Belizean men's footballers Belize men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders {{Belize-politician-stub