US embassy cable - 05ASUNCION734

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASUNCION 000734 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/BSC, EB/IFD/OIA, AND INR-B 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR LAC/AA 
STATE PASS TO USTR FOR SCRONIN AND LYANG 
NSC FOR KIM BREIER 
TREASURY FOR OSIA MAUREEN WAFER 
TREASURY FOR OTA WARFIELD, VAN KOCH, MILLAR 
COMMERCE FOR ITA SARAH COOK 
SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD DAN JOHNSON 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PA 
SUBJECT: PARAGUAY: NEW MINISTER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 
RAUL VERA BOGADO BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION 
 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOHN F. KEANE FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D). 
 
1. (U)  Biographic information of the new Minister of 
Industry and Commerce, Raul Vera Bogado. 
 
2.  (U)  In late May 2005, President Duarte appointed 
technocrat Raul Vera as the Minister of Industry and 
Commerce, replacing Ernst Bergen, the new Minister of 
Finance.  Before his appointment as Minister, Vera served 
most notably as the President and Chairman of the Board of 
Directors of the Central Bank of Paraguay from May 
2001-November 2002.  As President of the Central Bank, Vera 
performed duties as Governor for Paraguay at the 
International Monetary Fund, a Member of the National Council 
of Economic Policies, and a Member of the Common Market 
Council of MERCOSUR. 
 
3.  (U)  Vera worked in the Dominican Republic with the 
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) from 2003-2005, as 
a National Consultant for financial intermediation issues, 
and as Director of GADES (Advisory Group for Sustainable 
Development).  He occupied several high-ranking career 
positions at the Central Bank as Manager of the Economic 
Research Area in May 1997, and Director of the Department of 
International Economics, in 1995. 
 
4.  (C)  Vera, viewed as a reformer, resigned as Central Bank 
president as a matter of principle citing differences and a 
lack of support by then-President Gonzalez Macchi.  He is a 
close associate of present Ambassador to the United States 
and former Minister of Finance, James Spalding.  Also a 
technocrat, Spalding resigned from his position within the 
Ministry within days of Vera over similar problems with the 
Gonzalez Macchi administration. 
 
5.  (U)  Vera attended the University of Illinois at 
Urbana-Champaign, where he graduated with a Masters Degree of 
Science in Policy Economics in December 1994. He was born on 
January 30, 1967, and speaks Spanish and English. 
KEANE