Álvaro Alsogaray

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Álvaro Carlos Alsogaray (Esperanza, Santa Fe, 22 June 1913 – Buenos Aires, 1 April 2005) was an Argentine politician.

He was a member of the Alsogaray military dynasty, and retired from the military with the rank of captain (and two engineering degrees, which led to his being called, sometimes sarcastically, el capitán ingeniero). During the presidency of Arturo Frondizi, pressure from the military resulted in Alsogaray's being appointed Minister of Finance.

[edit] Biography

A graduate of Argentina's Military Academy as an infantry officer, Alsogaray learned military engineering in the Army's technical academy and civil and aeronautical engineer in Córdoba University.

He retired from the army with the rank of captain and entered business, being involved mainly with transportation enterprises such as FAMA, the predecessor of flag carrier Aerolíneas Argentinas. In this capacity, he briefly held public office during the presidency of Juan Perón, whose politics and policies would later be anathema to Alsogaray's thinking.

After the coup that removed Perón, he held the posts of Under-secretary of Commerce and Minister of Industry.

During the presidency of Arturo Frondizi, pressure from the military resulted in Alsogaray's being appointed Minister of Finance, and he held several ministerial and planning post under his successor, de-fato president José María Guido. After the 1966 coup, Alsogaray was designated ambassador to the United States, a post he held until 1968.