CAF laments death of its first president & CEO

(La Paz, February 22, 2010).- Adolfo Linares Arraya, founder and first CAF President & CEO (1970 and 1976), has died in the city of La Paz at the age of 87. The Bolivian civil engineer graduated from the University of Chile and specialized in economics, planning and project strategy. During his professional life, he held important national and international posts in both public and private sectors.

During his term as CAF president, Adolfo Linares laid the base for the operations of the institution in relation to the formation of the first financial funds, definition of operating criteria, organization and training of human and administrative resources, gaining the confidence of the banking and international financial sectors, and opening representation offices.

CAF President & CEO Enrique García expressed, on behalf of the institution, heartfelt condolences to the Linares family. "Adolfo was a great builder in all the activities he undertook at national and international level. He was a visionary and as such, as the first president of CAF, acted with dedication and commitment in the creation of the institution and the start of its operations."

In addition to financing the initial operations of the Latin American development bank, during his term, the first initiatives were taken to raise funds from the Latin American region and multilateral organizations. He was also involved in the setting up of the Andean Trade Finance System (SAFICO), which was the initial impulse for promoting intra-regional trade which has now reached considerable volumes.