Fernando Canales Clariond

Who is Fernando Canales Clariond?

Fernando de Jesús Canales Clariond is a Mexican politician and businessman affiliated to the National Action Party. He succeeded his cousin, Benjamín Clariond as governor of Nuevo León in 1997. He also served as Secretary of Economy and as Secretary of Energy in the cabinet of Vicente Fox.

Fernando Canales is the son of Fernando Canales Salinas and Consuelo Clariond. Consuelo is the daughter of Jacques Antoine Clariond, founder of Industrias Monterrey, and his wife María Garza. IMSA is nowadays one of the leading business groups in Latin America.

During his youth he briefly considered the Catholic priesthood but finally opted-in for a bachelor's degree in law from the Escuela Libre de Derecho. Later on he received an MBA from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education and specialized in industrial relations at the Institute of Social Studies of The Hague, in the Netherlands.

In the private sector Canales has served as chief executive officer and vice president of IMSA and as a member of the board in several companies in the United States, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Chile and Mexico.