Mexican Consul to Speak at Gustavus Wednesday

Ana Luisa Fajer, Consul of Mexico who is based in St. Paul, will speak publicly at Gustavus Adolphus College at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24. Fajer’s presentation is titled “A Bonding Between Two Nations: Myths and Challenges of Mexican Immigration in Minnesota,” and will take place in room 127 of Confer Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Fajer is charged with providing services to residents in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and northern Wisconson and has held her current position since 2008. She previously served a Director General for Africa and the Middle East for the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2008. She also held various other positions within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1989 to 1998. She has also spent time with the National Research and Security Centre, the Mexican Council for International Affairs and National Institute of Migration.

Fajer holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in Mexico City. She holds a master’s degree in Africa Studies from El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City. In 1989, she earned a Ford-McArthur Foundation Fellowship for Post Graduate Studies in sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

She has published several research articles about Africa and foreign policy in several newspapers and magazines. She has also taught courses on international affairs at the Universidad Iberoamericana, the Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey, and at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Fajer’s role as Consul of Mexico in St. Paul is to preserve relations with federal, state, and local authorities and to strengthen friendship and cooperation, in accordance with Mexico’s foreign policy; to protect the rights of Mexican Nationals living in the district of her responsibility, regardless of legal status in the United States; to provide documents to Mexicans and nationals of different countries according to Mexican law; and to promote ties with the Mexican community.

Fajer’s appearance at Gustavus is sponsored by the Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies (LALACS) Program. For more information about this event, contact Mayra Taylor at mtaylor2@gustavus.edu.