Ralph Henry Fonseca (born 9 August 1949) is a

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 wate ...

an politician and a member 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 ...

Political history

In 1984, he became a candidate for the House of Representatives in Queen's Square, running against attorney and city councillor

Dean Barrow Dean Oliver Barrow, SC PC (born March 2, 1951) is a politician from Belize who served as prime minister of Belize from 2008 until 2020 and as leader of Belize's United Democratic Party. An attorney by profession, Barrow served as Belize's ...

. He lost and returned to private life until 1989, when he was appointed a Senator and Minister of State in Finance and Leader of Government Business in the Senate until 1993. In 1993 elections he won in the newly created

Belize Rural Central Belize Rural Central is an electoral constituency in the Belize District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2020 by Dolores Balderamos-García of the People's United Party (PUP). Profile The Beli ...

constituency despite the PUP's close overall loss. He repeated this victory in 1998 and 2003. He served in Cabinet as Minister of Budget Management, Investment and Home Affairs until 2003, when he was moved to Finance again while keeping Home Affairs. Beginning in 2006, he was in charge only of Home Affairs. He became the PUP's national campaign manager in 1985. Fonseca was undecided as to whether he would seek a fourth term in the February 2008 election, but he subsequently decided to contest his constituency. He was defeated, in what was considered an upset, by the UDP's Michael Hutchinson, a relatively unknown candidate. On 14 February, the PUP announced that Fonesca had resigned as PUP campaign manager.

Personal life and education

Fonseca attended St. John's College High School and Sixth Form before going to university in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

to major in

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of Data (computing), data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information te ...

, specialising in systems analysis and control data. He is married with three children. Fonseca reportedly loves diving and fishing. Fonseca is a cousin of former PUP leader and Leader of the Opposition

Francis Fonseca Francis William Fonseca (born 11 March 1967) is a Belizean politician who served as leader of the People's United Party (PUP) and as Leader of the Opposition of Belize from 2011 to 2016.

."Francis Fonseca on Why He Wants to Lead the PUP"

Tropical Vision Limited Tropical Vision Limited, or as it is locally known, Channel 7, is a Belize City based television station operating since 1981. Its Managing Director is Nestor Vasquez. Programming Channel 7 airs a mix of American and Belizean programmes. 7 N ...

, February 25, 2008. (accessed 25 October 2014) Fonseca's younger brother,

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

, served as Mayor of

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, w ...

from 1999 until 2006."Former Bze. City Mayor David Fonseca Takes His Own Life"

. (accessed 4 May 2015) Fonseca's only son, Ralph Fonseca Jr. was killed in a motor accident on 11 September 2007.

Non-political work

Before going to Canada, Fonseca acted as an assistant general manager at the

Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an independent company unt ...

oil company in Belize. In Canada, he was employed in various capacities of information technology. After returning to Belize, he worked as managing director for Belize Brewing Ltd., Hilllbank Agroindustries and Consolidated Electricity Services. Sandwiched between these jobs were posts as Chairman of the former Belize Electricity Board, now Belize Electricity Limited, and the Telecommunications Authority, now BTL. Presently he serves as a consultant in the petroleum, mining, airline, and shrimping industries.

Criticism

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", " ...

, Fonseca popularized the policy of growth economics, which proposes to develop Belize's economy through privatization of assets and encouraging foreign investments, which in turn is supposed to create jobs for Belizeans. Supporters argue that Growth Economics is behind Belize's consecutive gains in total growth; detractors say any benefits from growth economics only accrues to PUP interests and in reality Fonseca has damaged Belize's international reputation due to high debt and poor economic indicators. He has further been accused of practicing official corruption, granting favors to party supporters in return for shares in the profits. However, claims either way cannot be measured. Fonseca has a notably tense relationship with certain media houses antagonistic to his policies. The

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 ...

and

KREM Radio KREM Radio (call-sign VPM-FM) is a Belize City radio station operating on the F.M. band at 96.5, 91.1 and 101.1 MHz since November 17, 1989. Its headquarters are located at 3304 Partridge Street in Belize City, also the home of the ''Amanda ...

, who under chairman

Evan X Hyde Evan Anthony Hyde (better known as Evan X Hyde; born 30 April 1947) is a Belizean writer, journalist, media executive and former politician. He publishes and writes for the nation's largest newspaper, ''Amandala'', and oversees its subsidiaries, ...

had been in partnership with the PUP since 1994, claimed to have ended that relationship under pressure from Fonseca.http://www.amandala.com.bz/index.php?id=5546 _{Amandala editorial: Message to the Blue People.}

Channel 7, managed by Jules Vasquez, has also come under fire by Fonseca for a perceived bias against him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fonseca, Ralph 1949 births Living people People's United Party politicians Finance ministers of Belize Government ministers of Belize Members of the Senate (Belize) Members of the Belize House of Representatives for Belize Rural Central Belizean businesspeople