Comments: President Portal was the first mission president of the Venezuela Maracaibo mission, serving from its creation in July 1979 until the end of June 1980. He previously had served two years as president of the Venezuela Caracas mission and presided over the first division of a mission in Venezuela. President Portal was also the first Venezuelan to serve as a mission president in his native land. He was originally from Trujillo, but he and his wife Beatriz had lived in Caracas for many years, where he was an executive for Alberto V05 and other companies. He often entertained the missionaries at conferences by playing the
cuatro and singing in his rich tenor voice.
