He was born in 1941, in Arequipa, Peru. He is a renowned economist President of the Instituto Libertad y Democracia (ILD [Institute of Liberty and Democracy]), which is located in Lima. This institution is classified according to The Economist, as one of the two most relevant research centers on the planet.
He was also chosen in 1999 as one of the 5 main innovators in Latin America. And in 2004 he was considered among the 100 most influential people in the world. Also Forbes, during its 85th anniversary on December 2002, selected him as one of the 15 people who "will reinvent the future."
Also in a survey conducted in 2005, among the more than 20,000 readers of the UK Prospect and US Foreign Policy magazines, he was chosen as the most influential Latinos internationally (13th out of 100).
Among his career, it is noteworthy that he was a member of the General Agreement on Tariffs, Customs and Trade (GATT), president of the Executive Committee of the Organization of Copper Exporting Countries (CIPEC), managing director of the Universal Enginnering Corporation, among other important positions.
Currently Hernando de Soto and his people at the ILD are designing and implementing capital formation programs for the homeless in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and the countries of the former Soviet Union.
