Enrique V. Iglesias

Enrique Valentín Iglesias García (born 1931) is an economist of Uruguayan-Spanish dual citizenship. He was once president of the Inter-American Development Bank, an international institution dedicated to furthering economic development in the Western Hemisphere through investment and policy formulation.

Biography

Iglesias was born in Asturias, Spain, in 1931 to Manuel Iglesias and Isabel García. His parents emigrated to Uruguay in 1934 and Enrique was naturalized as a Uruguayan citizen. By university, Iglesias had established an interest in government and economics; in 1953, he graduated from Uruguay's Universidad de la República with a degree in economics and business administration. After graduation, he went on to private-sector banking, which led to a long term as the president of Uruguay's Central Bank. Iglesias held a variety of influential posts before being elected president of the Inter-American Development Bank in 1988.

During Iglesias's first and second terms as president, the IDB concluded negotiations for its Seventh (1989) and Eighth (1994) General Increase in Resources. Respectively, these negotiations increased the Bank's ordinary capital by USD $26.5 billion and $101 billion.

Political views and controversy

Iglesias is a strong proponent of open markets and multilateralism, with a strong interest in energy reform. Perhaps because of this last point, the IDB has participated in a variety of projects focused on harnessing as-yet untouched energy sources, most recently the major natural gas project currently underway in Camisea, Ica, Peru. Under Iglesias' tenure, the IDB has received criticism about its funding of the project, which detractors see as environmentally harmful or in violation of the rights of indigenous peoples. The IDB has even been accused of facilitating the genocide of indigenous peoples by lending money to an Argentine-led consortium described as unscrupulous. In a report recently leaked by U.S. Amazon lobby group Amazon Watch, Peru's Ministry of Health found that "22 indigenous people died after exposure to respiratory illnesses from gas pipeline workers and 30% of the 500-strong Nanti tribe has died since 1995". The subject is especially delicate since many of the indigenous people in question have little contact with the developed world and do not possess the antibodies to contagious diseases brought by outsiders. The IDB met in Lima, Peru the week of March 29, 2004 to discuss this and other problems.

Post-IDB Career

On June 1 2005, Iglesias announced his resignation from the IDB, effective September 30 2005. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/business/newsid_4598000/4598047.stm] Later in 2005 he became secretary-general of the Ibero-American Cooperation Secretariat, a new organization to facilitate cooperation between Latin America, Spain, and Portugal.

Honorary degrees

* 1991: Doctorate in Law, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
* 1994: Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
* 1994: Cândido Mendes, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
* 2000: South-East University, Louisiana, U.S.
* 2002: Honoris Causa Degree Universidad de las Américas, Puebla, Cholula, Puebla, Mexico

Prizes

* Prince of Asturias Prize, Spain
* Favorite Son of Asturias, Spain
* Favorite Son of Oviedo, Spain
* Order of Rio Branco, Brazil
* Grand Cross, Brazil
* Grand Cross Silver, Council of the National Order of Juan Mora Fernández, Costa Rica
* Order of the Legion of Honor, France
* Grand Cross of Isabel the Catholic, Spain
* Notre Dame Prize for Distinguished Public Service in Latin America, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, USA
* 1999: Order of Arts and Letters of the French Republic, France
* 2000: International Order of Merit, City of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
* 2006: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, Japan

Professional chronology

* 1954-1966: Managing Director, Unión de Bancos del Uruguay Bank
* 1966-1988: President, Central Bank of Uruguay
* 1972-1985: Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
* 1981: Secretary General, United Nations Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy (Kenya)
* 1985-1988: Minister of Foreign Relations, Uruguay

Published works

Iglesias has published quite a few articles and papers. His books include:

* ECLAC and the Economic Relations of Latin America
* Perspectives on Economic Development in Latin America
* Uruguay, a Proposal for Change
* Latin America on the Threshold of the 1980s
* The Energy Challenge
*

External links

* [http://www.iadb.org/aboutus/iv/ma_EVI.cfm?language=English IDB: Enrique Iglesias]