In 1962, President John F. Kennedy proposed the Alliance for Progress between the United States and the developing countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
A Republican senator from New York, Jacob Javits, proposed that the world's business community join together to form a new corporation that would underwrite private sector investments throughout Latin America.
They were joined by Senator Javits in inviting private corporations from Europe, North America and Japan to capitalize this new venture.
It hired a Swiss engineer, Ernst Keller, as its first managing director and opened its operations center in Lima, Peru, in early 1965.
The company also made medium term loans for specific projects, but its primary function was to provide risk capital to Latin American businesses.
The size of these investments varied from small printing companies to large steel mills, pulp and paper, hotels, resorts and chemicals.
Control of the company was taken over by a creditors committee, management spent 15 years recovering assets, and Adela was finally dissolved on September 24, 1994.
[10] ADELA; 1969; Development and Resources Corporation Records, Box 149, Folder 9; Public Policy Papers, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.