Alfonso Marquéz De La Plata

Alfonso Marquéz De La Plata (born 19 July 1933, Santiago de Chile – 22 April 2014) was a former minister of Agriculture during the Military Government of Augusto Pinochet.

He was the son of Fernando Márquez De La Plata Echeñique and Rosa Yrarrázaval Fernández (cousin of the poet Vicente Huidobro Fernández), a family that comes from the Hispanic times in Chile.

In 1939, after a trip to Europe frustrated by the beginning of the Second World War, his family settled in Buenos Aires, where he studied at the Marist Brothers School.

When he returned to Chile, he studied at Saint George's College, from which he graduated in 1950. Between 1951 and 1954 he studied Agronomy at the Catholic University, receiving his degree in Agricultural Engineering in 1956. He married Luz Cortes Heyermann in 1957 and had two children: Maria de la Luz and Alfonso.

Since graduating from the university, he worked in agriculture and forestry in the "Carén" farm in the Mostazal commune. He was one of the founders of the Association of Agronomists and Veterinarians of Rancagua (between 1956 and 1969), as well as of the Cooperative of Farmers of the Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins Region.

Between 1963 and 1967 he was alderman of Mostazal, in addition to being a member of the Association of Fruit Growers of the Center.

In 1968 he was appointed director of the National Society of Agriculture. In 1969 he was elected vice-president of the entity, and in April 1973 he was elected president of the same. During this period, and in association with other guilds of the Confederation of Production and Commerce, he promoted the creation of the first development bank in Chile, as well as the first agricultural bank. The SNA's Economic Bulletin also began to be published. In 1977, the Corporación de Desarrollo Social del Sector Rural was created. He resigned from the position in 1977. Between that year and the following one, he served as president of Banco de Santiago.

In 1978 he was appointed Minister of Agriculture by President Augusto Pinochet, serving until December 1980.

From 1981 to 1983 he was director of Banco de Crédito e Inversiones, AFP Provida and Compañía de Cervecerías Unidas (CCU).

From March 1981 he was a member of the Fourth Legislative Commission until he resigned in August 1983. Subsequently, he was appointed Minister Secretary General of Government, and then became Minister of Labor between November 1984 and October 1988. He also served as Deputy Minister of the Interior between August 26 and September 3, 1983, as well as on April 14, 1984. From 1989 to June 1992 he was president of the National Television Council.

In 2005 he was appointed Honorary Director of SNA for the period 2005-2007.

Alfonso Márquez De La Plata was the owner of Editorial Maye, which published 44 books related to the history of Chile during the periods of the Popular Unity and the Military Government. Among them "Miguel Krassnoff: Prisoner for serving Chile", written by Gisela Silva Encina, which can be found in the Archives of the Vatican Libraries.

Until his death, he was a member of the board of directors of the Pinochet Foundation, as well as director of the Universidad Mayor and a close friend and defender of Miguel Krassnoff.