Sergio de la Cuadra

Sergio de la Cuadra Fabres was a Chilean economist and politician, a member of the Independent Democratic Union.
He served as President of the Central Bank of Chile and as Minister of Finance during the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet.

Family and education

He was born in Santiago de Chile on 5 January 1942, the son of Adriana Fabres Pinto and the former radical minister and deputy Marco Antonio de la Cuadra Poisson, and the brother of Arturo de la Cuadra Poisson, who served as intendant of the provinces of Aysén and Magallanes.
He completed his higher education in business and economics at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and later earned a master’s and Ph.D. degree from the University of Chicago.
In 1966 he married Pabla Emilia Fontaine Andrade, with whom he had four children: Francisco Javier, Juan Carlos, Natalia and Paula.

A member of the so-called Chicago Boys, he took part in the economic management of Chile during the Pinochet regime.
He served as Vice President of the Central Bank of Chile between 1977 and 1981, and as its President from 1981 to 22 April 1982, when he was appointed by Pinochet as Minister of Finance, a position he held until 30 August of that year. After leaving the Finance Ministry, he joined the legislative commissions of the Military Government Junta.
Among other activities, he was partner and president of Forecast Consultorías e Inversiones S.A., an economic advisory firm he co-founded with economist Ángel Cabrera. He was also an active promoter of Chile’s capital markets through various sectoral studies and publications. He served as a director of several companies, including the Banco de Chile, where he was part of the board that oversaw its restructuring after the 1980s financial crisis; he served on that board from 1987 to 1989.
He also served on the boards of the Electronic Stock Exchange of Chile, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile, Viña Concha y Toro, Banco Monex, Iansa, and Pesquera Itata. He also served on the boards of Ceresita, Petroquim, and Forestal y Papelera Concepción. In academia, he was a member of the Council of Economics and Management at the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, and worked as an international consultant for various Latin American countries.