Julio Mestre

Julio A. Mestre is an exiled Cuban economist who was born in Havana, Cuba in 1935. Son of Aida Margarita Cordovés Bolaños and Juan José Mestre Miyares and grandson of Julio Cordovés y de la Paz and Isabel Bolaños Fundora. The Cordovés and Bolaños families were involved in the Cuban Wars of independence against Spain. Rosario and Encarnita Lastra were members of the Cuban Liberation Army (Mambises) within the "Brigada de José María Aguirre" and served under Generalísimo Máximo Gómez.

Mestre studied in the Colegio de la Salle in Havana and graduated with a degree in Economic Sciences from Universidad Católica de Santo Tomás de Villanueva in 1957.

Mestre served in Brigada 2506, as number 3195, during the Bay of Pigs Invasion to Cuba in 1961. Later, he worked for Union Panamericana in Washington D.C. (1963-1965), for CBS-Time Life (1965-1968) and for Kodak Corp. in Venezuela (1968-1972). Mestre established private businesses in Venezuela, Santo Domingo, and Madrid. He married Sandra Teresita Caballero in Venezuela and has two sons. Currently he is living in Caracas, Venezuela with his family.