You also can be a part of it!
The presentation of the 2023 Award for Committed Human Rights Diplomacy in Cuba took place in Madrid at the residence of the Swiss Ambassador to Spain and Andorra.
The host, H.E. Hanspeter Mock, gave the welcoming speech; then Gabriel C. Salvia, General Director of CADAL referred to the Award and the merits of the laureate; then, the Cuban journalist, Luz Escobar, presented the plaque to the awarded diplomat; and finally, H.E. Mauro Reina gave a moving and solidary speech upon receiving the Award, which he extended to Lorenzo Suárez, who accompanied him in his mission in Havana.
The event was further attended by the Czech diplomat Frantisek Fleisman, laureate of the award’s 2014 edition; a diplomat from the embassy of the Netherlands in Madrid, a country that has won this award twice; democratic referents, human rights activists, artists and independent journalists from Cuba who reside in Spain; Alfredo Okenve, activist from Equatorial Guinea; and friends of the award-winning diplomat.
Mauro Reina was born in Sorengo (Switzerland) in 1964. A native of Lugano (Switzerland), he holds a law degree from the University of Geneva. He joined the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAE) in 1990 and completed his two years of diplomatic practice in Berne, London and Geneva. In 1992 he was assigned to headquarters as diplomatic assistant to the General Secretariat and later as coordinator of international refugee policy in the Political Directorate. In 1996, he was transferred to Buenos Aires as First Secretary, in charge of Cultural Affairs. In 1998, he returned to Geneva to work at the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the WTO and EFTA. In 2002, he was appointed Counselor for Political Affairs in Madrid. Since July 2006, he was Deputy Head of Protocol in Bern and since June 2009, Deputy Head of Embassy in Rome. From February 2013 to July 2016, Ambassador Reina was Head of Mission in Astana (Kazakhstan), with dual accreditation in Tajikistan. Returning to Bern in August 2016, he was until November 2019 Chief of Protocol of the FDFA, with the title of Ambassador. From December 2019 to July 2023 he was Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Switzerland to Cuba and Jamaica, with residence in Havana. Since August 2023, he has been Head of Mission to the Kingdom of Denmark.
Regarding the work of the awarded diplomat, Julio Antonio Fernández Estrada said the following: "Ambassador Mauro Reina, ambassador of the Swiss Confederation in Cuba, has been an example throughout his mission on the largest island in the Caribbean of committed diplomacy with the diligence of his responsibilities to his government and of respect and sensitivity to the problems of the Cuban people. It is not common to find ambassadors who fully understand the pains and greatness of the Cuban people, our humility and our values, the beauty of our culture and the deterioration of that same culture, which is why Mr. Reina has stood out so much during the years of his mission in Havana. The way in which the Swiss embassy has reacted to political events in Cuba in which there has been a violation of such dear human rights as freedom of speech, of the press, of political thought, of demonstration and of association, among others, has been an example that it is possible to find diplomatic missions in Cuba that understand the drama that the Cuban people are going through. From a completely personal point of view, it was surprising to read the note of gratitude and sorrow from the Swiss embassy upon learning of my forced departure from Cuba. I believe that beyond what it meant to me as an individual, it was a completely extraordinary position of high dignity and political decorum in the scenario of ordinary diplomacy.”
The journalist Abraham Jimenez Enoa, in turn, declared: "In a moment of great importance for Cuban citizens, such as the years 2021 and 2022, Mauro Reina not only cared to understand the importance of the events, but also accompanied and supported those who were striving to change the course of life in Cuba. A gesture worthy of gratitude. A gesture that very few foreign diplomats in Cuba have the courage to make.”
Meanwhile the historian Manuel Cuesta Morúa noted: "With tireless discretion, Ambassador Mauro Reina showed at all times his sensitivity to the major problems facing Cuba, as well as to democratization and civil society. With tact, which was probably demanded from his government, he knew how to show himself openly with many of us, sending the message that Switzerland, the neutral country par excellence, knows how to choose which side of history to be on. We thank Mauro Reina for being there for us, in the hope that Cubans, who are more important than Cuba, will be in his thoughts in his work. Wherever his next destination may be.”
Finally, CADAL's General Director, Gabriel C. Salvia, stated : "From the first contact by e-mail I noticed that Ambassador Reina was a committed diplomat and during his mission in Cuba I verified that he was one of those people that, in defense of human rights, René Cassin defined as 'good-hearted'. They are the kind of human beings who make a difference, who in different complicated historical contexts were few in number and unfortunately still are. It is a great honor for CADAL to grant him this well-deserved Award".
