Swiss diplomat receives in Madrid award plaque for his work in Cuba

Mauro Reina served as Ambassador of Switzerland to Cuba from December 2019 to July 2023. He excelled in providing recognition and support to democratic leaders, publicly expressing his views on the repression of the mass protests of July 11 and 12, 2021, and the forced exile of critical voices. Currently, H.E. Mauro Reina is Ambassador of Switzerland to Denmark.

The winner of the 2023 edition of the Award for Committed Human Rights Diplomacy in Cuba is a Swiss citizen

Mauro Reina served as Swiss Ambassador to Cuba from December 2019 to July 2023. »I dedicate the Award to all Cuban women and men who fight for a better future despite the risks to their freedom and security,» the Swiss diplomat said.

Bastiaan Engelhard received in The Hague the award for his work in Cuba

Cuban activist and art historian Carolina Barrero was in charge of presenting the plaquette to the diplomat from the Netherlands, who served as his country»s Counselor and Deputy Head of Mission at the embassy in Havana from August 2017 to January 2022. Engelhard is the second diplomat from the Netherlands to receive the »Award for diplomacy committed to human rights in Cuba» granted by CADAL. The ceremony held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands was attended by the previous winner of the Award in 2009-2010, Caecilia Wijgers, current ambassador to Afghanistan, and Bahia Tahzib-Lie, Ambassador for Human Rights of the Netherlands.

Bastiaan Engelhard received in The Hague the award for his work in Cuba

Cuban activist and art historian Carolina Barrero was in charge of presenting the plaquette to the diplomat from the Netherlands, who served as his country»s Counselor and Deputy Head of Mission at the embassy in Havana from August 2017 to January 2022. Engelhard is the second diplomat from the Netherlands to receive the »Award for diplomacy committed to human rights in Cuba» granted by CADAL. The ceremony held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands was attended by the previous winner of the Award in 2009-2010, Caecilia Wijgers, current ambassador to Afghanistan, and Bahia Tahzib-Lie, Ambassador for Human Rights of the Netherlands.

Carolina Barrero at the delivery of the Award for Diplomacy Committed to Human Rights in Cuba, 2019-2021

Speech by the Cuban activist and art historian at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, who presented the plaque to Bastiaan Engelhard, the diplomat awarded for his work in Cuba.

Bastiaan Engelhard at the delivery of the Award for Diplomacy Committed to Human Rights in Cuba, 2019-2021

Speech by the Dutch diplomat awarded for his work in Cuba, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

Seventh edition of the award for Diplomacy Committed to Human Rights in Cuba

Bastiaan Engelhard: «We have seen a huge setback in the human rights situation»

Jorge Elías spoke with Bastiaan Engelhard, counselor and deputy head of mission of the Dutch embassy in Cuba (August 2017-January 2022) and winner of the 7th edition of the award for Diplomacy Committed to Human Rights in Cuba, about his work on the island. His experiences inside Cuba as a diplomat, the regime’s tactics to increasingly limit the rights of citizens, and the reasons why the Kingdom of the Netherlands is interested in human rights on the island.

A Dutchman is the winner of the 2019-21 Engaged Diplomacy in Cuba Award

Bastiaan Engelhard, Counselor and Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of the Netherlands in Cuba from August 2017 to January 2022, was the winner of the seventh edition of the Award for Engaged Diplomacy for Human Rights in Cuba 2019-21. He was nominated by referents of the San Isidro Movement, the Center for Coexistence Studies and prominent human rights activists and independent journalists. Since 2003, after Cuba’s black spring that began 19 years ago, and thanks to the participation of Cuban colleagues in this democratic exercise, 15 foreign diplomats were recognized by CADAL for their humanitarian work in Cuba. Engelhard is the second Dutch diplomat to receive this award.

Dutch diplomat Bastiaan Engelhard awarded for his support for freedom in Cuba

Engelhard, deputy chief of mission of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Havana, was widely chosen among the diplomats nominated by a group of activists summoned by Cadal as a jury.

CADAL awarded in Prague the Prize for Committed Diplomacy in Cuba 2016-2018

Full video of the delivery to Filip Vurm of the Prize for Committed Diplomacy in Cuba 2016-2018, held on Monday, October 14, 2019 at the Zofin Palace in Prague in the framework of the 23rd edition of the Forum 2000. Includes an introduction by Gabriel Salvia, General Director of CADAL, the delivery of the platelet by the Cuban political activist Manuel Cuesta Morúa, and the words of the award-winning Czech diplomat.

Award ceremony in Prague

As part of the 23rd edition of the Forum 2000 in Czech Republic, CADAL presented the Award to Committed Diplomacy in Cuba 2016-2018 to Filip Vurm. The Czech diplomat, whose work was recognized by Cuban democratic activists, served between 2014 and 2018 at his country's Embassy in Havana.

The two diplomacies in Cuba: the complacent and the committed

The list of complacent would be long, for example, those of democratic countries whose officials never received any nomination for the Award for Committed Diplomacy in Cuba, so it is as if they were not there. And most worrying, after the delivery of the last edition of the Prize for the period 2016-2018, is the setback that some embassies recorded.

A Czech is the winner of the Award for Committed Diplomacy in Cuba 2016-2018

Filip Vurm worked at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Cuba between 2014 and 2018. Accepting the award he said: «I am very honoured to receive the award for committed diplomacy in Cuba. This award reminds me of all the brave and honest Cubans who strive in very adverse conditions to make their beautiful homeland a democratic, just and prosperous country. It has been a privilege for me to meet these women and men during my stay in Cuba. I am proud that it is they, who appreciated my diplomatic activities in Havana».

CADAL presents Jorge Edwards with the Special Award for Committed Diplomacy in Cuba

The award was presented by CADAL Secretary Bernabé García Hamilton at the closing of the 2017 Conference on the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Totalitarianism. The event was held at the San Martín Palace, home to the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Swedish ex diplomat receives award in Prague

In the framework of the 20° edition of the Forum 2000, Micael Lagergren received from the hands of Cuban democratic activists in the Zofin palace in Prague, the award to committed diplomacy in Cuba 2015. Lagergren worked as the third secretary of the Sweden embassy in Cuba form May 2010 to April 2015.

Czech diplomat receives award in Prague

As part of the 19th edition of the Forum 2000, Frantisek Fleišman received in the Žofín Palace in Prague the Award to Committed Diplomacy in Cuba from 2013 to 2014 from Cuban democracy activists.

A Czech wins the Award of Committed Diplomacy in Cuba 2013-2014 and the Swedish Embassy in Havana receives a special mention

It is the fourth time that CADAL’s Program for International Democratic Solidarity presents this award. It is unprecedented democratic work in Cuba, which points out the supportive work of foreign diplomatic working in embassies in Havana. Between 2003 and 2014, 11 foreign diplomats were honored for their humanitarian work in Cuba, two Czechs, two Germans, a Swede, a Dutch, a Pole, one British and three Americans. This time, CADAL announces the winner of 2013-2014 and the special mention, on the day of the National Day of Argentina, with the hope that very soon the Cuban democratic actors will be invited to it for the National Day.

An American diplomat received the Award to Committed Diplomacy in Cuba 2011-2012

Joaquín Monserrate, Head of the Political and Economic Portfolio at the United States Interests Section in Havana, between September 2009 and July 2012, was the winner of the Award to Committed Diplomacy for the period 2011-2012 after obtaining 220 votes and been nominated by 23 different groups in Cuba.

Message from Ingemar Cederberg for the Award to Committed Diplomacy in Cuba 2009-2010 (read it in Spanish)

«I just finished five years of diplomatic service at the Embassy of Sweden in Havana. It has been a great privilege for me to have the chance to know deeply the difficult life conditions and the tough work of Cuban opposition. During my 18 years in different diplomatic positions in Latin America I have not known of violations to freedom of expression so infamously planned like in the case of Cuba».