Manuel Merino

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Merino and the second or maternal family name is de Lama.

Manuel Merino
260px Merino in 2011
President of Peru
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 November 2020
Preceded by	Martín Vizcarra
President of Congress
In office 16 March 2020 – 10 November 2020
Vice President	Luis Valdez Farías (1st) Guillermo Aliaga (2nd) María Teresa Cabrera (3rd)
Preceded by	Pedro Olaechea
Succeeded by	Luis Valdez Farías
First Vice President of Congress
In office 25 July 2011 – 26 July 2012
President	Daniel Abugattás
Preceded by	Alejandro Aguinaga
Succeeded by	Marco Falconí
Member of Congress
In office 16 March 2020 – 10 November 2020
Constituency	Tumbes
In office 25 July 2011 – 26 July 2016
Constituency	Tumbes
In office 26 July 2001 – 26 July 2006
Constituency	Tumbes
Personal details
Born	Manuel Arturo Merino de Lama (1961-08-20) 20 August 1961 Tumbes City, Tumbes Region, Peru
Nationality	Peruvian
Political party	Popular Action
Alma mater	National University of Tumbes
Occupation	Politician, businessman

Manuel Arturo Merino de Lama (born 20 August 1961) is a Peruvian politician who is the President of Peru since 10 November 2020. Before becoming president, he served as a Member of Congress (AP) representing the Tumbes constituency for the 2020–2021 term. He previously served in Congress in the 2001–2006 term and 2011–2016 term. He also served as the President of Congress from 16 March to 10 November 2020.

On 9 November 2020, the Peruvian Congress deposed President Martín Vizcarra, after declaring him "morally incompetent" and removing him from office. The following day, as the President of the Peruvian Congress, Merino became the new president of Peru following the line of succession established in the nation's constitution. He is scheduled to conclude the 2016-2021 presidential term on 28 July 2021.

Early life and education

Manuel Arturo Merino de Lama was born on August 20, 1961, in the northern city of Tumbes. He is the son of Pedro Merino Hidalgo and Elba de Lama Barreto. In 1985 he married Mary Jacqueline Peña Carruitero, an early childhood teacher. The couple have three children, Elba Jacqueline, Sandra Lisbeth and María Teresa.

Merino completed his elementary education at the Santa María de la Frontera School in 1973, and he finished his secondary education at the "Inmaculada Concepción" Educational Center in 1978, both in the city of Tumbes. In 1979, he enrolled the National University of Piura (later National University of Tumbes) to study agronomics. He subsequently dropped-out and did not complete his undergraduate studies.

Land business

In 1983, Merino started as an agricultural producer and merchant, at the same time he dedicating himself to raising cattle, serving as a member of the Tumbes Livestock Fund (FONGAN), president of Marketing of the Association of Banana Producers, president of the Association of Traders of Bananas and Fruits in General, member of the Tumbes Agriculture Defense Committee, representative of the Agrarian Producers of Tumbes, president of the Electoral Committee of the Irrigation Commission of the Left Bank of the Tumbes River, and president of the Permanent Commission of the Agrarian Debt of Tumbes.

In December 2000, Merino coordinated directly with the different agrarian organizations of the department, to obtain the cancellation of the debts contracted with the State and the refinancing of the same with the private financial entities.

Political career

In 1979, Merino registered in Popular Action. From Tumbes, he integrating the Youth Command, to later become an active member of the party. In 2000, he presided over the National Unity Front made up of Political Parties and Movements. He was subsequently chosen by the Popular Action bases to run for a seat in the Peruvian Congress at the 2001 general election.

Merino was elected to Congress with the highest vote count in Tumbes for 2001-2006 term. Prominently, he chaired over the Consumer Defense Committee from 2003 to 2004.

At the 2006 general election, Merino failed to attain reelection, as the Center Front coalition only obtained 5 seats nationally, mostly from Lima.

In the following years, Merino took an active role in the National Executive Committee of Popular Action, which propelled him to once again run for the Peruvian Congress at the 2011 general election. As part of the Possible Peru Electoral Alliance, which united Popular Action, We Are Peru, and Possible Peru, he was successfully elected for the Tumbes constituency for the 2011-2016 term.

From 2011 to 2012, Merino served as First Vice President of Congress, during Daniel Abugattás congressional presidency. Likewise, from 2012 to 2013, he chaired the Housing Committee. He was also an alternate spokesperson for the Popular Action-Broad Front parliamentary caucus, and Vice President of the Amazon Congressional Caucus, from 2011 to 2013.