Jacobs University welcomes Peruvian consul general

On Tuesday, March 27, 2007, Maria Teresa Merino de Hart, the Peruvian consul general of the Hamburg consulate, will visit the campus to give a talk on the cocaine trafficking crisis in the Andean region. The diplomat, who has been concerned with her nation’s drug problems for years, will focus on the battle against the cocaine business in the republic, which mainly involves the traffick transportation network on the Peruvian coastline.

[ Mar 26, 2007]  Besides her aim to further strengthen the relationships between Germany and Peru, one of Ms. Merino de Hart’s primary missions is to call attention to the drug trafficking of her homeland. Together with Bolivia and Columbia, Peru is one of the largest producers and distributors of cocaine. By the estimation of experts, cocaine trafficking in this Third World country is currently one of the main markets for employment, generating 500,000 to 1 Million ”jobs”. Particularly Europe and South America are favorite targets for the traffickers to smuggle the majority of their product. Therefore the Peruvian spokeswoman is constantly looking for an exchange of information and experiences from seasoned specialists in this area while acting in Germany.

Maria Teresa Merion de Hart was born in the Peruvian capital Lima. For more than five years she worked for the Peruvian Embassy in Washington, USA, where she was leader of the department of anti-drugs, anti-terrorism, and military affairs. Her position as a representative for central European countries and the European Union within the Peruvian diplomatic corps brought the mother of three children to Germany. Currently she is living in Hamburg while her husband, ambassador of Peru in Germany, is working in Berlin.

The English language lecture will take place at 7.15 p.m. in the Lecture Hall in Research 2.