So what can I say about Javier?

Before I talk about Javier, also known as ‘El Jefe’ by many of his colleagues/friends, I will briefly mention where and when I met him.

So, it was my first day at Amnesty back in 2012 as a volunteer, I had luckily been selected to become a part of the Central America team at Amnesty International, something that made me very proud no doubt.

I had previously applied for other posts, also as a volunteer at the Americas Programme though I hadn’t been successful.

My first day collaborating with the team was quite intimidating I must say. I did not know anyone there and every member of staff was busy talking about human rights issues in technical forms, using acronyms and jargon…

With time I got to know more people and although things started to relax a little for me, I still felt that I would never get to be as bright and knowledgable about understanding human rights issues and how to work to help improve people’s lives, a very tough job I should add…

So, that said, I used to visit Fernando, a Brazilian chap who worked near Javier’s desk. He once told me that Javier was Mexican but that he lived in France for a very long time and then moved to the UK, that´s all I knew about him really.

As time went by, Javier would frequently come towards my desk and say hello, briefly talk about Mexican issues and make intelligent jokes which I sometimes would not understand as I am very bad at grasping them.

Even though I was told that Javier was Mexican I had some doubts in my mind. Whenever he spoke Spanish, he sounded French to me. It was strange, even when he spoke English he had a bit of a French accent in some of his words.

I had to find out where Javier was actually from… Eventually I was able to meet him at his desk and ask him where he was born. He responded that he was originally from Chihuahua in the north of Mexico. If my memory does not betray me (as that conversation were about 5 years ago) he then moved to Mexico City where he did his studies and became a teacher at the Universidad de Chapingo (Javier, please correct me if I am wrong).

Javier, like many Mexican students at the time, including my Mom in fact, were part of the 1968 movement, a social uprising by workers, academics, students etc. whose demand was related to a more open and democratic State, given that Authoritarianism ruled within the government at the time, and still does today…

I am shameful to say that I don´t have much information on the exact dates when Javier joined Amnesty but I believe he told me once that it was in the early 70´s when the organisation functioned under a different leadership and things were done differently, interesting times I believe…

At his final speech a couple of years ago, before he left the organisation after many decades of intensive work conducted with passion and devotion in seeking justice, one thing stuck in my mind. He explained that the work carried out at the Americas Programme at Amnesty was key towards strengthening Amnesty´s presence and importance around the world. OK, he did not say it in those exact words, but his point was that the Programme was fundamental to the entire work of the organisation.

I must point out and reiterate that from day one, Javier was and still is a friendly and simple person to me. In fact, sometimes I wondered why he spent time talking to me, given that he had fulfilled various senior roles as Director of different teams, directing the human rights program of the joint UN/OAS Mission to Haiti and before he left, he was a Special Adviser on Regions. He had vast amounts of experience and professionalism. So why would he want to spend time talking to volunteer like me?

In the end, I concluded that for most of his professional life as a human rights defender, he had worked alongside PEOPLE, and his objective was to improve people’s lives around the world, hence the reason why he treated people in such kind ways, always under a simple and friendly approach.

This short story on Javier does not really give credit or justice to his career so I send him an apology for my lack of information. I know I took the liberty to talk and write a little bit about him (obviously many of his colleagues and friends know so much more about him and can describe him much more accurately than I can) to express my gratitude to him for his kindness and generosity.