Víctor M. Marroquín

Marroquín was born in Lima, Peru, on February 10, 1962. His father, Víctor Santiago Marroquín Rubio (1930-2015), was a decorated officer of the Peruvian Air Force who served as Managing Director of the Ministry of Health during the Armed Forces Revolutionary Government of the 1970s. His mother is Isabel Merino Deza.

Upon finishing high school at the Sacred Hearts Recoleta School[5] in 1978, he enrolled in the Peruvian Naval School. Between 1980 and 1984, he attended the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, pursuing a law degree. He would ultimately relocate to the United States in late 1984. After one year of undergraduate studies at Miami Dade Community College, he transferred to the University of Miami, where he graduated in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in history with honors and minoring in Spanish literature. His senior thesis was entitled "The Diplomatic Recognition of President Augusto B. Leguia".

Subsequently, Marroquín was admitted to the University of Miami School of Law, where he attained a Juris Doctor degree in 1992.[6][7] During his law school years, he founded the University of Miami International & Comparative Law Review, where he served as the first editor in-chief of the annual journal.[8] Among his other accomplishments at law school, Marroquín was a recipient of The Florida Bar Scholarship in 1991. Awarded to the 10 best law students of Florida in order clerk for a state judge, he clerked for Chief Justice Emerson R. Thompson Jr., of the 9th Judicial Circuit of Florida.[9]

Marroquín in 1993.

In 1993, he graduated magna cum laude with a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Harvard Law School. His thesis, "Wildlife Utilization: A New International Mechanism for the Protection of Biological Diversity", was published in early 1995 by the International Law Institute in the Georgetown Journal of International Law, and since then he has been cited by many scholars in the field of environment regulations in international law.[10]

Upon his graduation from Harvard, Marroquín joined the Legal Department of the International Monetary Fund, relocating to Washington, DC, where he worked on various international projects related to legal and financial matters in Europe and the United States, participating in the creation of the Vienna Multilateral Institute.[11]

Following his tenure at the IMF, Marroquín joined Baker & McKenzie in Chicago, Illinois, as a member of their Latin American Exercise Group. In addition to participating in other major projects and transactions, he served as project manager for the legal team which represented the Peruvian government in the privatization of the country's airports, ports, railways, and power facilities. This included the granting of a master concession in Lima from Jorge Chávez International Airport, the BOOT contract for the main electricity transmission line in Peru, and the concessions of hydrocarbon licenses, exploitation, transportation and distribution of the Camisea Gas Project, one of the world's largest natural gas deposits, in Cusco, Peru.

As he left Baker & McKenzie in mid-2000, Marroquín relocated with his family to Lima, Peru. Continuing his grandfather's law firm, he initially renamed it eLawPeru.com, the first internet-based law firm in Peru.[12] Finally, he renamed it Marroquín & Merino International Legal Advisors, specializing in complex mergers and acquisitions, finance, insolvency, taxes and complex civil litigation.[13] He also served as a legal advisor to President Alejandro Toledo during his administration.

Marroquín with President Alejandro Toledo, as the latter salutes former President Valentín Paniagua, November 2002.

Marroquín is also the President of the International Institute for Dispute Resolution in Peru, and a member of the board of directors of several Peruvian companies and non-profit institutions. Among these companies, he was elected to the board of directors of Peru 2021, a non-government organization composed of notable Peruvian businesspeople promoting social responsibility in Peruvian companies.[14][15]

His opinion is actively sought by the media on important issues of Peruvian law and politics.[16][17][18] Most recently, Marroquín has been noted as an advocate of the reestablishment of bicameralism in the Peruvian Congress, through a constitutional reform. His opinion on the matter has been taken into account by multiple media outlets, as the proposal has been widely debated in Congress since early 2001, and gained momentum since 2017.[19]

Marroquín giving the first-prize diploma to future El Comercio editor-in-chief, Fernando Berckemeyer, at a Harvard Law School Association - Peru Legal Essays Contest, November 2002.

Among other activities, Marroquín taught foreign investment law at John Marshall Law School in Chicago as an adjunct professor, and corporate law at the Graduate Business School of the University of the Pacific in Peru.

Since 2002, Marroquín has served as the country representative of Harvard Law School in Peru.[20][21] As part of its most distinguished alumni in Peru, Marroquín founded the Harvard Club of Peru in 2010, alongside fellow Peruvian alumni. He subsequently served as the club's second president from 2013 to 2017.[22][23]

In addition, Marroquín is a member of the Andes & Southern Cone Advisory Group of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS), which is Harvard University's largest and most-active University-wide foreign studies center. Since its foundation, the center has been instrumental in building bridges between Harvard and many of the key centers of learning in Latin America, as well as facilitating the travel to the region for thousands of Harvard University students and professors.[24]

In the aftermath of the downfall of Alberto Fujimori's administration in Peru, Marroquín announced his intention to run for President of Peru in the upcoming 2001 general election, on December 22, 2000, from his home in Chicago.[25] As he returned to Peru in order to organize an influx of personalities for his campaign, he founded the Youth Independent Movement.[26]

Into only three months from his announcement, Marroquín withdrew from the race, as he did not meet the requirements for party registration at the National Jury of Elections on time. Ultimately, economist Alejandro Toledo won the election in a run-off against former President Alan García.[27]

• Ford Foundation Research Assistant - Ford Foundation (1991)
• Moffsky Book Award - University of Miami (1992)
• International Lawyer of the Year - University of Miami (1994)
• “Who's Who in American Law” - Marquis Board of Editors (1998, 1999, 2000)
• Merit Award from the Legal Clinic for the Disabled in Chicago (1997)
• Outstanding Achievement Award - Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (1998)
• Best Insolvency & Restructuring Lawyer, Peru - World Finance (2009)[28]
• Best Lawyer, Peru - World Finance (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014)[29]

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