Fernando Schwalb

Fernando Schwalb López-Aldana was born in Lima in 1916 and qualified as a lawyer in 1940 after studies at the Pontifical Catholic University and San Marcos. He had already entered the foreign ministry as a young man. His early international work included UN economic affairs, civil aviation, and food and agriculture; he became minister-counsellor at the Washington embassy in 1948 and an alternate director at the World Bank in 1950. ¹

A founder of Acción Popular, Schwalb became its secretary-general and served as foreign minister and prime minister under Fernando Belaúnde Terry in the 1960s. He returned to high office with the restoration of constitutional government in 1980, as first vice-president. He combined that position with the Washington ambassadorship in 1980–82, then returned to Lima to head the cabinet and foreign ministry again until 1984. ¹

His American contacts remained important after leaving the embassy. In February 1983, he and Finance Minister Carlos Rodríguez Pastor met National Security Adviser William Clark in the White House Situation Room, accompanied by acting ambassador Alfonso Rivero. They sought support for Peru’s access to credit during a recession and regional debt crisis. Rodríguez Pastor gave a detailed financial presentation, while Schwalb assured Clark that Belaúnde was prepared to bear political costs to maintain the stabilization program. Schwalb died in 2002. ^{2, 1}