Beatriz Merino

Beatriz Merino
National Ombudsman of Peru
In office
29 September 2005  30 March 2011
Preceded by Walter Albán (Acting)
Succeeded by Eduardo Vega Luna (Acting)
Prime Minister of Peru
In office
23 June 2003  15 December 2003
President Alejandro Toledo
Preceded by Luis Solari de la Fuente
Succeeded by Carlos Ferrero
Member of Congress
In office
26 July 1995  26 July 2000
Member of the Senate
In office
26 July 1990  5 April 1992
Personal details
Born (1947-11-15) 15 November 1947
Lima, Peru
Political party FREDEMO (1990-1992)
Independent (1992-1995)
Independent Moralizing Front (1995-2000)
Independent (2000-Present)
Alma mater National University of San Marcos
Harvard Law School
London School of Economics

Martha Beatriz Merino Lucero (born November 15, 1947, Peru) was the first female Prime Minister of Peru. Merino served as Prime Minister from 23 June 2003 to 15 December 2003. Merino served as the national ombudsman for Peru from 29 September 2005 to 30 March 2011, a position also known as the defender of the people. She was the third person to hold the position (the first title holder was Jorge Santistevan and his successor, in an interim position, was Walter Albán). Following the expiry of her five-year term in March 2011, Merino was succeeded by Eduardo Vega Luna.

Beatriz Merino Lucero became the Prime Minister of Peru in 2003, the highest political rank ever held by a woman in the history of Peru.[1] Merino held office between June 23, 2003 and December 12, 2003. Previously, she served as Superintendent of the Peruvian Internal Revenue Service "SUNAT", proposed by then Minister of Economy Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. In Peru, she studied Law at National University of San Marcos. She graduated from Harvard University with a master's degree in law, becoming the first Peruvian woman to graduate from Harvard Law School. She also obtained an LLM degree from the London School of Economics in 1974. Merino was director of the Women’s Leadership Program at the Inter-American Development Bank to support and finance projects to enhance women’s leadership in Latin America. She also worked as a lawyer at the law firm Estudio Merino and Reano, where she worked extensively in commercial, labor, corporate and environmental legislation.[2]

From left to right. Leading Peruvian businessman Diego de la Torre, Director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies Merilee Grindle, President of the Harvard Club of Peru Víctor M. Marroquín, and Beatriz Merino at a Harvard Club of Peru meeting in 2011.

Merino served Peru as a Senator from 1990 to 1992, and then served in Peru's Congress from 1995 to 2000. She was also the first Peruvian woman to serve on the Commission of Andean Jurists. At the University of Lima, she was the director of foreign cooperation and of the master’s program on tax revenues and fiscal policies.

In 2015, Merino was chosen to receive the Harvard University Lifetime Achievement Award, becoming the first woman in Peru to obtain the highest recognition from Harvard Alumni and Faculty. In 2016, she was elected as one of the most influential leaders in Latin America by America Economía, together with Peruvian Nobel Prize Mario Vargas Llosa, a close friend and political ally of Merino.

Merino is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an international network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally, for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.

References

  1. Initial Signatories to the Global Action Plan
  2. Initial Signatories to the Global Action Plan
Political offices
Preceded by
Luis Solari de la Fuente
Prime Minister of Peru
2003
Succeeded by
Carlos Ferrero
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