José Antonio Mayobre (21 August 1913 in

Cumaná Cumaná () is the capital city of Venezuela's Sucre State. It is located east of Caracas. Cumaná was one of the first cities founded by Spain in the mainland Americas and is the oldest continuously-inhabited Hispanic-established city in Sout ...

– 15 August 1980 in Washington DC) was a Venezuelan economist who worked as an academic economist, a diplomat and international civil servant. He was a

Minister of Finance of Venezuela The Ministry of Economy and Finance (''Ministerio del Poder Popular de Economía y Finanzas'', in Spanish, literally, "Ministry of People's Power for the Economy and Finance") is a ministry of the government of Venezuela with similar portfolios da ...

and the Executive Secretary of the

ECLAC The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC, ECLAC or ''CEPAL'', in Spanish: ''Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe'') is a United Nations regional commission to encourage economic cooper ...

Education

Mayobre received a doctorate from

Central University of Venezuela Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

, in economic and social sciences, 1944, and in law, 1945. He went on to post-graduate studies at the London School of Economics. He held high-ranking posts as educator, economist, diplomat and international functionary.

Career

Upon returning to his country in 1946, Mayobre worked in the

Central Bank A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...

of Venezuela's Department of Economic Research and became its director. At the same time he taught Economic analysis at the Central University of Venezuela's Faculty of Economics, a post he held on several occasions until 1960. In 1947, he was appointed alternate Governor of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

representing Venezuela, and in 1948 he was appointed General Director of Banco Agrícola y Pecuario. From 1949 to 1951 he was General Manager of Industrias Azucareras S.A., in Caracas. Following the assassination of the president

Carlos Delgado Chalbaud Carlos Román Delgado Gómez (20 January 1909 – 13 November 1950) was a Venezuelan military officer who served as president of Venezuela from 1948 to 1950 as leader of a Military dictatorship, military junta. In 1945, he was one of the high- ...

, on November 13, 1950, Mayobre went into exile again. He joined the

United Nations Secretariat The United Nations Secretariat is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), The secretariat is the UN's executive arm. The secretariat has an important role in setting the agenda for the deliberative and decision-making bodi ...

in 1951 as the Delegated Director of

's subregional headquarters in Mexico. Then, in 1953, he was appointed Resident Representative of the United Nations' Technical Assistance Board in Central America. He returned to ECLAC in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's Chilean Central Valley, central valley and is the center ...

, where he headed the Economic Development Division from 1954 to 1958. He returned to Venezuela to direct the Corporación Venezolana de Comercio (Venezuelan Trade Corporation). In May 1958 he was appointed

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

of president

Rómulo Betancourt Rómulo Ernesto Betancourt Bello (22 February 1908 – 28 September 1981; ), known as "The Father of Venezuelan Democracy", was a Venezuelan politician who served as the president of Venezuela, from and again from Second presidency of Rómulo ...

, a post he held until 1960. From 1960 to 1962, Mayobre was Venezuela's Ambassador to the United States and the

Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...

, in Washington, where he also worked as Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund. In 1963 was designated by

U Thant Thant ( ; 22 January 1909 – 25 November 1974), known honorifically as U Thant (), was a Burmese diplomat and the third secretary-general of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971, the first non-Scandinavian as well as Asian to hold the positio ...

Executive Secretary of the

in substitution of Argentinian

Raúl Prebisch Raúl Prebisch (April 17, 1901April 29, 1986) was an Argentine economist known for his contributions to structuralist economics such as the Prebisch–Singer hypothesis, which formed the basis of economic dependency theory. He became the executi ...

until 1966. He returned to Venezuela from Santiago de Chile during the presidency of

Raúl Leoni Raúl Leoni Otero (26 April 1905 – 5 July 1972) was the president of Venezuela from 1964 until 1969. He was a member of the Generation of 1928 and a charter member of the Acción Democrática party, and the first Labor minister of Venezuela ...

and was nominated Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons and Minister of Finance. In 70th decade was adviser of

Universidad Metropolitana The Metropolitan University () (Unimet) is a Venezuelan university founded in 1970 by a group of entrepreneurs led by Eugenio Mendoza Goiticoa in the terrains donated by the businessman Pius Schlageter, father of the Venezuelan painter Eduard ...

and Universidad Simón Bolívar. En 1975 was member of Energy National Council.

References

20th-century Venezuelan economists Finance ministers of Venezuela Executive secretaries of the Economic Community of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean Permanent representatives of Venezuela to the Organization of American States Ambassadors of Venezuela to the United States 1913 births 1980 deaths Venezuelan officials of the United Nations Rómulo Betancourt ministers Raúl Leoni ministers {{Venezuela-economist-stub