Carlos Alfredo Magariños

Who is Carlos Alfredo Magariños?

Carlos Alfredo Magariños is an Argentine politician and former UN official.

Magariños earned a master’s degree in Business Administration at the University of Buenos Aires. He continued in academia and was Associate Professor of Microeconomy, Technical Coordinator in Research Methodology of Investigation and Assistant Professor of Foreign Trade Institutions in Buenos Aires. He also studied at the International Development Law Institute in Rome. He was Associate Professor for Argentine and Latin American Economic Issues at Salvador University, Buenos Aires and taught at the University of Belgrano, Buenos Aires.

Magariños was National Director for Foreign Trade 1991–92, then Under-Secretary of State for Industry. During the first term of President Carlos Menem, he became State Secretary for Industry and Mining of Argentina, at age 31.

In 1996, Magariños assumed the position of Argentine Economic and Trade Representative in Washington, D.C., with the rank of Ambassador and State Secretary.

In December 1997, he was elected Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, which was undergoing a severe financial crisis at the time. After a successful round of reforms and consolidations, Magariños was re-elected for a second term in 2001 and led the organization until 2005.