Argentina’s new consul general to the Southeast, Marcelo Eduardo Gerschenfeld, is a veteran diplomat having served in Africa, Europe and the Middle East as well as at the Foreign Ministry in Buenos Aires, his home country’s capital.

Mr. Gerschenfeld has replaced in the Atlanta office Carlos Layus, the former dean of the consular corps who returned to Argentina.

Most recently, Mr. Gerschenfeld served in Buenos Aires as director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ department in charge of Mercosur, the regional trade agreement among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

From 2006-07, he was based in Buenos Aires as deputy director of the ministry’s department in charge of the economic relations with the European Union. He also has served in the Ivory Coast (1983-86), Switzerland (1986-91), Russia (1993-94), and Belgium (1994-98).

During the period surrounding Argentina’s financial and economic crisis of 2001, he was deputy head of mission in the Argentine embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, leaving that post in 2006. Although he wasn't living in Argentina at the time, he knew of the crisis' effects because so many Argentines were leaving the country and going elsewhere including Israel.

In 2001 alone, some 1,500 people emigrated from Argentina to Israel and today there are more than 80,000 Argentines living in Israel. Many, who had fled Europe during World War II, left for Israel in the 1950s. Other waves of Argentine emigrants came to Israel in the 1970s and 1990s due to political and economic problems.

Mr. Gerschenfeld recalled in an interview with GlobalAtlanta in his office downtown that the 2001 financial crisis led to a collapse of the country’s economy and the accompanying rise of unemployment to 25 percent of the workforce.

In recent years, Argentina’s economy had been recovering with healthy growth rates. Its banking system fared comparatively better than many countries, he said, because of the reforms enacted in the wake of the 2001 crisis, but the global recession recently has caught up with Argentina, slowing but not derailing the country's positive momentum.

With responsibilities for his country’s relations with the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia, he said that his first concern would be for the 3,000 Argentines living in the region.

He also plans to promote trade and tourism between Argentina and the Southeast and is already making arrangements for cultural programs.

For Thanksgiving, however, he plans to be in Buenos Aires where he will rejoin his wife and then return with her following the holiday.

To reach the consulate, call (404) 880-0805 or go to  http://www.consuladoargentinoatlanta.org/

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