[2] He was an ambassador to Cuba and the Soviet Union, the director-general of the central bank (1982), and the Secretary of Budget and Planning [es] (1976–77) in the cabinet of President José López Portillo.

In 1976, President López Portillo appointed him to head the newly created Secretariat of Budget and Planning [es]; he remained in that position until he was forced to resign following a long and bitter dispute with the Secretary of Finance, Julio Rodolfo Moctezuma.

[6][1] He was replaced at the central bank in November 1982 by Miguel Mancera Aguayo, who opposed his foreign exchange controls strategy.

[4] In 2016, the UNAM named him Professor Emeritus for "his exceptional teaching over more than 30 years and his notable work as a researcher in the field of economics".

[9] He had three children, among them, historian Carlos Tello Díaz [es], author of La rebelión de las cañadas.