Hugo B. Margáin Gleason

Hugo B. Margáin trained as a lawyer at UNAM and specialized in taxation and public finance. He directed federal sales and income tax offices before becoming finance secretary in 1970. In that office, he advocated balanced public finances, domestic saving, and a reduced dependence on foreign borrowing. He also taught at UNAM and El Colegio de México. ^{1, 2}

Margáin served two spells as ambassador in Washington, separated by his time at the Finance Ministry and the embassy in London. During the first, he helped manage relations after the tensions caused by Operation Intercept. In December 1969, he conveyed President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz's response to Richard Nixon and discussed the progress of bilateral narcotics talks, access for Mexican tomatoes, and a possible meeting between Nixon and Luis Echeverría. He expressed confidence that relations were recovering. ^{3, 5}

During his second Washington assignment, Margáin participated in Jimmy Carter's February 1979 talks with President José López Portillo, when the two governments discussed energy, trade, and border questions. He later served in the Mexican Senate from 1982 to 1988. Margáin died in September 1997. ^{4, 2}