The Holy Spirit University of Kaslik was honored to welcome the ambassadors of Latin American countries to meet with the President of USEK, Rev. Fr. Talal Hachem. H.E Mr. Jesús Gregorio González González, Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Lebanon and Dean of Ambassadors of Latin America, H.E. Mr. Carlos Moran, Ambassador of Chile in Lebanon, H.E. Mr. Carlos Gitto, Ambassador of Uruguay in Lebanon, H.E. Mr. Tarcísio Costa, Ambassador of Brazil in Lebanon, H.E. Mr. Jorge P. Leon Cruz, Ambassador of Cuba in Lebanon, H.E. Mr. Edwin Ostos Alfonso, Ambassador of Colombia in Lebanon, H.E. Mrs. Maria Virginia Ruiz Quintar, Ambassador of Argentina in Lebanon and H.E. Mr. Francisco Romero Bock, Minister and Chargé d’Affairs at the Embassy of Mexico in Lebanon, participated in the visit in presence of Dr. Rima Mattar, Deputy President for International Affairs and Global Initiatives, Mr. Roberto Khatlab, Director of the Latin American Studies and Cultures Center at USEK and Dr. Joseph Al Assad, Dean of the School of Engineering.
The ambassadors made a tour of the USEK Campus, as well as the Robotics lab at the University. They also visited the Library and the Latin America Collection of books in Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, English, and French, in addition to the digital library of newspapers, books, magazines, and old publications present in Latin America, published by emigrants, in the 19th and 20th centuries, which are accessible to researchers all over the world.
It is worth mentioning that the Latin American Studies and Cultures Center (LASCC) was founded in 2010 at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK). It is a multidisciplinary center that organizes seminars and conferences on Latin American topics so that students have a greater knowledge of this region, which is home to a great number of Lebanese emigrants. Moreover, the largest partners of the LASCC are the Latin American embassies that always carry out academic and cultural activities at USEK. It represents a place for exchange, a platform for cooperation, and a link between USEK and Latin America, and simultaneously a publication hub for Latin America in Lebanon.