The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC or ECLAC) was established in 1948 (then as the UN Economic Commission for Latin America, or UNECLA) to encourage economic cooperation among its member states. In 1984, a resolution was passed to include the countries of the Caribbean in the name. It is one of five regional commissions under the administrative direction of United Nations headquarters. The ECLAC has 44 member States and eight non-independent territories in the Caribbean, and reports to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). As well as countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, it includes Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan and South Korea.

Member states

• Antigua and Barbuda
• Argentina
• Bahamas
• Barbados
• Belize
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• Canada
• Chile
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Cuba
• Dominica
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador
• El Salvador
• France
• Germany
• Grenada
• Guatemala
• Guyana
• Haiti
• Honduras
• Italy
• Jamaica
• Japan (27 July 2006)
• Mexico
• Netherlands
• Nicaragua
• Panama
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Portugal
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• South Korea (5 June 2007)
• Spain
• Suriname
• Trinidad and Tobago
• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
• United States of America
• Uruguay
• Venezuela

Associate members

• Anguilla
• Aruba
• British Virgin Islands
• Montserrat
• Netherlands Antilles
• Puerto Rico
• Turks and Caicos Islands (24 March 2006)
• United States Virgin Islands

Locations

• Santiago, Chile (headquarters)
• Mexico City, Mexico (Central American subregional headquarters)
• Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (Caribbean subregional headquarters)
• Buenos Aires, Argentina (country office)
• Brasília, Brazil (country office)
• Montevideo, Uruguay (country office)
• Bogotá, Colombia (country office)
• Washington, DC, United States of America (liaison office)

Executive Secretaries of ECLAC

Name	Country	Served
Gustavo Martínez Cabañas	Mexico	December 1948 – April 1950
Raúl Prebisch	Argentina	May 1950 – July 1963
José Antonio Mayobre	Venezuela	August 1963 – December 1966
Carlos Quintana	Mexico	January 1967 – March 1972
Enrique V. Iglesias	Uruguay	April 1972 – February 1985
Norberto González	Argentina	March 1985 – December 1987
Gert Rosenthal	Guatemala	January 1988 – December 1997
José Antonio Ocampo	Colombia	January 1998 – August 2003
José Luis Machinea	Argentina	December 2003 to June 2008
Alicia Bárcena Ibarra	México	July 2008 to present

See also

• United Nations System
• Latin America
• Caribbean

References

Bibliography

Paul Berthoud, A Professional Life Narrative, 2008, worked with CEPAL-ECLAC and offers testimony from the inside of the early years of the organization.

External links

• UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean