Guillermo del Pedregal

Guillermo del Pedregal Herrera (19 June 1898 – 1981) was a Chilean civil engineer and politician who served as Minister of State during the governments of Pedro Aguirre Cerda, Juan Antonio Ríos and Carlos Ibáñez del Campo.

Biography He was the son of Alfredo del Pedregal and Adelaida Herrera. He studied at the Instituto de Humanidades and qualified as a civil engineer in 1922. He began his professional career in the Directorate of Public Works, serving in hydraulic engineering and railway inspection.

He was professor of Financial Mathematics at the Faculty of Economics and Commerce of the University of Chile, becoming its first Dean. During the government of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, he joined a group of young technocrats incorporated into public administration by Finance Minister Pablo Ramírez Rodríguez. In 1926 he served as Inspector of Corporations and Superintendent of Insurance Companies, playing a role in legislation that nationalized the insurance sector.

In 1927 he became director-manager of the Caja Reaseguradora, serving until 1940. He also presided over the Superior Labor Council and the Central Mixed Wage Commission. Outside politics, he was president of Hipódromo Chile (1943–1948) and long-time director of the Club Hípico de Santiago.

He married Ursula Wolff and had three children.

Ministerial career In 1939 he was appointed Executive Vice President of the Corporation for Production Development (CORFO), leading its formative stage. In 1941 he became Minister of Finance under President Pedro Aguirre Cerda, promoting expansionary policies aimed at industrial development, which contributed to rising inflation.

President Juan Antonio Ríos reappointed him to the Finance Ministry in 1942 amid wartime economic pressures. His reform proposals included fiscal centralization of spending authority and price and wage controls.

During the second administration of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, he served as Minister of the Interior and later simultaneously as Minister of Finance and Minister of Economy and Commerce. He advocated a development model combining import substitution with export expansion and warned against excessive dependence on copper. He also attempted to negotiate external credits with the International Monetary Fund, which required inflation control measures.

In 1971 he was appointed Ambassador of Chile to the Soviet Union under President Salvador Allende, his nomination being approved unanimously.