WHO'S WHO IN BELIZE, CENTRAL AMERICA - PART V

The Honourable Dean Oliver Barrow
Prime Minister of Belize
Incumbent
Assumed office 08 February 2008
Monarch
Elizabeth II
Governor General
Colville Young
Preceded by
Said Musa
Constituency
Queen's Square
Born
2 March 1951 (1951-03-02) (age 56)
Political party
UDP
Profession
Lawyer

Dean Oliver Barrow (born March 2, 1951) is a Belizean politician and the Prime Minister of Belize. He is also the leader of the United Democratic Party. An attorney by trade, he served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1993 to 1998 and was then Leader of the Opposition until the UDP won the February 2008 election. Following his party's victory in the 2008 election, he became Prime Minister.
He has four children, the oldest of whom is rapper Jamal "Shyne" Barrow, born November 8, 1978, currently serving a prison sentence in the United States of America.

Education
Barrow attended St. Michael's College in Belize and Norman Manley Law School in Kingston, Jamaica.

Legal Career
Barrow, a senior counsel, is also considered one of Belize's more successful attorneys and has appeared in several high profile cases. He began his legal work in the law firm of uncle Dean Lindo in 1973 and became a partner in 1977. He would eventually leave to form his own law firm. He is currently senior partner in the local law firm Barrow and Williams (with Rodwell Williams), and frequently appears in court to argue sensitive cases. Among his more controversial clients is Lord Michael Ashcroft and the businesses he is in charge of, particularly the Belize Bank and BTL.

Political career
In 1983 Barrow entered electoral politics as a candidate for Belize City Council elections in December of 1983, which he won as part of a nine-man slate. He then participated in general elections of December 1984 as a candidate for the Queen's Square electoral division against, ironically, former fellow MP Ralph Fonseca. Barrow defeated Fonseca handily and was nominated to Cabinet as Attorney General and Minister of Foreign Affairs in addition to being Prime Minister Manuel Esquivel's deputy in the Government and the UDP from March of 1990.
In the 1989 general election, Barrow defeated Thomas Greenwood but his party lost the election. Barrow continued as Deputy Party Leader to Manuel Esquivel and in his law practice. In 1993, Barrow won his third straight general election, over Juliet Soberanis, and returned to 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 appeared at most major functions on behalf of the UDP government.
After the 1998 elections loss in which he was one of only three representatives who retained a seat for the UDP, Barrow was elevated to Party Leader and Leader of the Opposition, replacing Manuel Esquivel in both positions. Barrow has presided over the smallest Oppositions (3 and 7 respectively) in the House of Representatives since 1974 and ever in the UDP's history. Barrow has won his last two elections by closer margins than his previous elections over attorney Richard "Dickie" Bradley.
Barrow was re-elected for the sixth time against the PUP's Anthony Sylvester and Ebony Babb of the NRTCP.
The UDP won a massive victory, with 25 out of 31 seats, in the general election held on February 7, 2008, and Barrow was sworn in as Prime Minister on February 8. He is the country's first black Prime Minister. He announced his Cabinet, including himself as Minister of Finance, on February 11