CABA human rights conference focuses on Cuba
'This conference demonstrates our continued commitment in advocating for change and support to those in Cuba fighting against oppression'
Candice Balmori, from the left, Florida Supreme Court Justice John D. Couriel, and Justice Jorge Labarga talked about the importance of an impartial judiciary at the Cuban American Bar Association’s October 6 one-day human rights conference “International Human Rights & Legal Advocacy: The Cuba Case.”
Danilo Maldonado Machado El Sexto, a Cuban graffiti artist, participated in the conference.
The Cuban American Bar Association (CABA) held a one-day human rights’ conference, “International Human Rights & Legal Advocacy: The Cuba Case,” earlier this month at the Florida International University College of Law.
Attendees had the opportunity to workshop and hear from attorneys who have represented petitioners in international forums. The conference used Cuba as a case study to focus on basic individual human rights, the international legal framework that exists to protect them, and effective advocacy efforts by individual and community actors.
CABA President Giselle Gutierrez
“It was an honor to take part in a conference with such celebrated freedom advocates,” said CABA President Giselle Gutierrez of Stearns Weaver Miller. “Support for the Cuban people and their pursuit of justice remains as critical as ever and we were pleased to continue shining a light on this.”
The keynote speaker was Armando Valladares, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and a former Cuban political prisoner. In his book, “Against All Hope,” Valladares wrote: “Freedom must be a universal concept to which all men and women are equally entitled. For as long as a single nation is deprived of freedom, the rest of the world cannot feel itself free.”
“I want to thank all of our distinguished panelists for their participation,” said Candice Balmori of Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman. “This conference demonstrates our continued commitment in advocating for change and support to those in Cuba fighting against oppression. Knowledge with the desire to make change makes a difference.”
