John Antonio Briceño(born 17 July 1960) is aBelizeanpolitician who is the fifth and currentprime minister of Belizesince 12 November 2020 and the leader of thePeople's United Party(PUP) since 2016. He wasLeader of the Oppositionfrom 2008 to 2011 and from 2016 to 2020.[2]From 1998 to 2007, he served as thedeputy prime ministerunder Prime MinisterSaid Musa.
Johnny Briceño | |
|---|---|
 Briceño in 2022 | |
| 5thPrime Minister of Belize | |
| Assumed office 12 November 2020 | |
| Monarchs | Elizabeth II Charles III |
| Governors‑General | SirColville Young DameFroyla Tzalam |
| Deputy | Cordel Hyde |
| Preceded by | Dean Barrow |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 31 January 2016 – 12 November 2020 | |
| Prime Minister | Dean Barrow |
| Preceded by | Francis Fonseca |
| Succeeded by | Patrick Faber |
| Member of theBelize House of RepresentativesforOrange Walk Central | |
| Assumed office 30 June 1993 | |
| Preceded by | Leopold Briceño |
| Chairman of theCaribbean Community | |
| In office 1 January 2022 – 30 June 2022[1] | |
| Secretary-General | Carla Barnett |
| Preceded by | Gaston Browne |
| Succeeded by | Chan Santokhi |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Antonio Briceño 17 July 1960 Orange Walk Town,British Honduras (nowBelize) |
| Political party | People's United Party |
| Spouse | Rossana Briceño |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent |
|
| Alma mater | St. John's College University of Texas |
Early life and education
editBriceño was born inOrange Walk Town,British Honduras,on 17 July 1960.[3]His fatherElijio Briceñowas a government minister in the 1980s, but in 1985 was convicted of conspiring to smuggle marijuana and cocaine into the United States, with the indictment naming a brother and a nephew as co-conspirators; in September 1985, his father was sentenced to seven years in prison.[4][5]
Briceño graduated fromMuffles Collegein 1978.[6]He earned anassociate degreein business administration fromSt. John's Collegein 1980, and abachelor's degreein business administration from theUniversity of Texas at Austinin 1985.[3]
In 1990, Briceño and his brother Jaime[7]founded Centaur Communications, acable televisionprovider which later branched out intoInternet service,television news, and radio.[8]
Career
editBriceño was first elected to theBelizean House of Representativesfrom the Orange Walk Centralconstituencyin 1993;[9]in 1994 he successfully ran in the town council elections ofOrange Walk Town.[3]
In 1994, Briceño was elected Co-Chairman of thePeople's United Party;[3]in 1996, he was elected Deputy Party Leader.[10]When the PUP won the1998 elections,Briceño was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Natural Resources and the Environment.[3]
In August 2004, he led a group of ministers, known as the G-7 alliance, who made a number of reform demands, including the dismissal ofRalph Fonsecafrom the Cabinet. When Prime MinisterSaid Musafailed to meet these demands, the group resigned; however, Musa subsequently agreed to all of the demands except for the dismissal of Fonseca and the G-7 ministers remained in the Cabinet.[11]Briceño also gained an additional portfolio, theMinistry of Finance.[3]Briceño was later one of the ministers who opposed Musa's proposal to settle the country's Universal Health Services debt; as a result of this, Musa attempted to demote Briceño from his position as Deputy Prime Minister, but Briceño refused to accept the lesser posts in the Cabinet that he was offered and instead resigned from the Cabinet on 5 June 2007.[11]
At a national convention of the PUP in July 2007, Briceño was re-elected as one of the party's deputy leaders.[12]In theFebruary 2008 general election,in which the PUP was defeated, Briceño was re-elected in his constituency ofOrange Walk Central;he was one of only six successful PUP candidates.[13]
On 30 March 2008, Briceño was elected as the leader of the PUP at a party convention inBelmopan,succeeding Musa. He defeatedFrancis Fonseca,who was considered to be the candidate preferred by the party establishment, receiving 330 votes against 310 for Fonseca.[14]
Citing unspecified health issues, Briceño abruptly resigned as both PUP and opposition leader in October 2011 without leading the party in a general election. He retained his seat in the National Assembly.[15]He was succeeded in both leadership positions by Fonseca.[16]
2015 recording incident
editIn March 2015, shortly after the PUP's decisive defeat inmunicipal elections,a recording was made public of Briceño sharply criticizing the 1998–2008 Musa government. In the recording, Briceño accused Musa and Ralph Fonseca of stealing "millions, tens of millions of dollars", and stated, "... had this been another country they would have been in jail right now". Briceño also claimed he went deeply into debt personally as PUP leader on the party's behalf, and blamed Francis Fonseca for losing the2012 general electionandlocal elections.Briceño claimed the recording was made without his consent and refused to comment on it. Francis Fonseca characterized the incident as an "internal party matter".[17]
Prime Minister of Belize (2020–present)
edit
On 11 November 2020, thePeople's United Party,led by Briceño, won government in the2020 general election,defeating theUnited Democratic Party,led byPatrick Faber.He took office as Prime Minister of Belize on 12 November 2020. He is the first prime minister who is not from Belize City.[18]
In July 2021, Briceño's government passed legislation establishing a fixed seven-year term for theGovernor-General of Belize.During the debate on the bill, he stated that Belize should begin to consider the replacement of themonarchywith a republic.[19]
Personal life
editBriceño and his wifeRossana Briceño(a 1986 graduate ofMuffles College)[6]have three sons.[3]On 24 November 2020, two weeks after starting his term as prime minister, he declared he was diagnosed withCOVID-19and was doing well.[20]On 1 February 2022, it was announced that Briceño tested positive for COVID-19 again.[21][needs update]
Honours
edit
References
edit- ^"ROTATION SCHEDULE FOR THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE CONFERENCE 1 JANUARY 2018 TO 30 JUNE 20251"(PDF).
- ^"Hon. John Briceño takes oath as Leader of the Opposition".The Belize Times.14 February 2016.Archivedfrom the original on 17 February 2017.Retrieved15 February2016.
- ^abcdefg"Cablegate: Bio -- Belize: John Briceno".scoop.co.nz.Scoop News. 31 March 2008.Retrieved13 November2020.
- ^"Former Government Minister Elijio Joe Briceno Dies".Love FM.Retrieved13 November2020.
- ^Warnock, Elliott (10 September 1985)."Former Belize minister gets 7 years on drug charges".UPI.Retrieved23 April2021.
- ^ab"Prime Minister's alma mater sends congratulations".Breaking Belize News.12 November 2020.Retrieved13 November2020.
- ^"Jaime Briceno – PUP – People's United Party".pup.org.bz.Archived fromthe originalon 28 November 2020.Retrieved13 November2020.
- ^"About Us – Centaur Communications".Centaur Belize.Retrieved13 November2020.
- ^Hon. Juan Antonio (Johnny) BricenoArchived2014-09-24 atarchive.today.National Assembly (Belize).(accessed 23 September 2014)
- ^"From the Publisher – Amandala Newspaper".amandala.bz.15 March 2015.Retrieved15 November2020.
- ^ab"Vildo is Deputy P.M. – Florencio replaces Johnny!"Archived2012-02-08 at theWayback Machine,Amandala Online, June 5, 2007.
- ^Adele Ramos,"Musa and Ralph step down - PUP D-day March 30!"Archived2010-02-24 at theWayback Machine,Amandala Online, February 15, 2008.
- ^"Confirmed winners"Archived2011-05-22 at theWayback Machine,Amandala Online, February 8, 2008.
- ^"Johnny stuns Francis in 'Pan!"Archived2012-02-08 at theWayback Machine,Amandala Online, April 1, 2008.
- ^"Johnny Briceño steps down as Leader of the PUP"Archived2014-10-19 at theWayback Machine,The San Pedro Sun,October 7, 2011. (accessed 23 September 2014)
- ^"Francis Fonseca is the New Leader of the PUP".The San Pedro Sun.20 October 2011.Retrieved13 November2020.
- ^Ali, Marion."CONfirmation!"Archived2016-08-17 at theWayback Machine,The Reporter,13 March 2015. (accessed 31 March 2015)
- ^"Belize election: Opposition win brings change after 12 years".BBC News.12 November 2020.Retrieved13 November2020.
- ^"Abandoning the realm: Republic of Belize?".Breaking Belize News. 5 July 2021.Retrieved23 December2021.
- ^"Belize's Opposition wishes PM speedy recovery from COVID-19 | Loop St. Lucia".Archived fromthe originalon 27 December 2020.Retrieved27 November2020.
- ^"Prime Minister Tests Positive for COVID-19".Government of Belize Press Office. 1 February 2022.Retrieved3 February2022.
- ^Yeh, Joseph (7 March 2022)."Belize prime minister to visit Taiwan, receive honor from president".Central News Agency.Retrieved7 March2022.
- ^Teng, Pei-ju (9 March 2022)."Belize leader Briceño advocates for Taiwan's full international recognition".Central News Agency.Retrieved9 March2022.
External links
edit
