Alexander Segovia Cáceres, El Salvador
Who is he? An economist, Segovia will serve as technical secretary to the presidency under the new left-wing Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN) government of President Mauricio Funes, which took office on 1 June 2009. Segovia is not a cardholding member of the FMLN but is one of the founders of the pro-business Amigos de Mauricio Funes (AMF). These are a mixture of left-wing and right-wing figures who provided financial support to Funes during his campaign
Why watch him? Segovia is one of Funes's closest aides. He encouraged Funes to dispense with former FMLN tenets (such as reversing dollarisation and pulling out of the Cafta-DR trade treaty with the US). As technical secretary to the presidency, he is expected to wield considerable influence in devising economic policy - the economy is undoubtedly the biggest challenge facing Funes, with remittances and exports down by 7.5% and 8%, respectively, in the first quarter of 2009 and GDP likely to contract by at least 1% this year.
Born: El Salvador.
Education: Segovia has a degree in economics from El Salvador's Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas (UCA), a masters specialising in public policy in Latin America from Oxford University, and a doctorate in economics from London University.
Public Life: Segovia built up his public profile as an academic and consultant, working for a string of international organisations such as: the Inter-American development bank (IDB); the UN development program (UNDP); the UN Commission on Latin America & the Caribbean (Cepal). He also worked for the Salvadorean government, advising then treasury minister, Guillermo López Suárez (2004-6), under the previous Tony Saca administration.
While not a member of the FMLN, he has shown himself to be sympathetic to its concerns for social justice; as well as working as an economic analyst for the UN Verification Mission in Guatemala (Minugua), an organisation which played a key role in Guatemala's peace process, he also collaborated with the New York-based International Center for Transitional justice (ICTJ), an organisation which assists countries pursuing accountability for past mass atrocity or human rights abuse.
Currently, he is on the advisory council to the Central American institute for fiscal studies (ICEFI); a consultant for the Salvadorean development and environmental research program (Prisma) and is an advisor on a UNDP and government-sponsored project aimed at reducing urban poverty in El Salvador.
A personal friend of Funes, Segovia was one of the founders of the AMF, back in November 2007, when Funes, a TV journalist, was named official candidate for the FMLN. He played a crucial role in Funes's campaign, stressing the need to reassure the private sector and the influential Salvadorean expatriate community in the US that an FMLN government would not mean mass nationalisations and a narrow foreign policy focused on Venezuela, still less restrictions imposed on remittances by the US. In the election build-up he also accompanied Funes on his visits to business magnates such as Mexico's Carlos Slim and Raúl Salinas Pliego, aimed at cementing decent business links. At the same time he insists that any economic plan must tackle the causes of the civil war (1980-92) - exclusion, poverty and inequality, which the FMLN claims Arena neglected to address following the peace accords.
Following Funes's victory on 15 March, Segovia formed part of his transition team responsible for negotiating the hand-over of power from the outgoing rightwing Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (Arena). He was officially named technical secretary to the presidency on 26 May and took up his position on 1 June.
Time Line:
1985: Worked as a researcher and lecturer at the Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas (UCA).
1997-2000: Worked as an economic analyst for the UN Verification Mission in Guatemala (Minugua) in Guatemala
2001: Collaborated with the ICTJ in New York.
2004-2006: Advisor to treasury minister, Guillermo López Suárez under the Saca administration.
November 2007: Helps founds “Amigos de Mauricio Funes".
May 2009: Named technical secretary to the presidency.
Strengths: With a solid reputation and extensive experience, Segovia's appointment was welcomed by both the public and private sectors - including the chamber of commerce and rightwing think-tank Fundación Salvadoreña para el Desarrollo Económico y Social (Fusades). His skill and political acumen is evident in the vote-winning electoral platform he helped devise for Funes, in which he managed to both reassure big business without completely alienating traditional FMLN supporters.
He heads a capable team of experienced technocrats - including the economy minister, Héctor Dada Hirezi, of the moderate left-wing Cambio Democrático - which has received the endorsement of the private sector. The public is also behind the new Funes administration - a UCA poll conducted between 27 April and 6 May showed 81% of those questioned considered the new government was well placed to address the current economic crisis.
Weaknesses: As a member of the AMF, Segovia has attracted criticism from FMLN hardliners. He also has a huge job to prevent the economic difficulties becoming a crisis. The outgoing Arena government maintained during the election campaign that that public finances were “stable" and there was “nothing to worry about". The assurances proved hollow - Segovia has since said that the country already has a US$500m fiscal deficit. The new head of the central bank (BCR), Carlos Acevedo, is predicting that the deficit will reach US$1.2bn by the end of the year.
Prospects: With only 35 of the 84 seats in congress, Funes
lacks a majority. Segovia and his team could well encounter opposition not
only from the rightwing Arena but also FMLN hardliners. Segovia has ruled out
introducing new taxes or raising rates to deal with the deficit. He promises,
however, to clamp down on tax evasion (which Funes claims is running at US$500m
a year) and to try to broaden the tax base by attracting foreign
investment.
Initially at least, Segovia will try to borrow his way out of
trouble. Two weeks ago congress approved initiatives which free up an additional
US$2.7bn through issuing US$1.8m in global bonds and redirecting two loans from
the World Bank and IDB worth in total US$950m towards debt payments.
On 1 June, Funes announced a US$474m “anti-crisis" plan aimed at addressing the immediate effects of the current economic crisis. Among other components, the plan aims to generate 100,000 direct jobs over the next 18 months; improve infrastructure and basic services and build and repair 25,000 low-income housing units in urban areas and create a new state bank which would guarantee loans for private business.