Josefina Vidal Explained

Josefina Vidal
Office1:Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cuba
Term Start1:2021
Office2:Director General, North American Division, Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Term2:2013 - ?
Office3:First Secretary, Cuban Interests Section
Term3:1999 - 2003
Birth Date:18 February 1961
Education:Moscow State Institute of International Relations

Josefina de la Caridad Vidal Ferreiro (born 18 February 1961) is a Cuban diplomat, and has been the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba. Previously she was director general of the North American Division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2013.[1] [2] [3]

Career

Vidal graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1984 with a degree of Bachelor of International Relations.

Vidal has previously held several United States-related posts in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 1999 to 2003 she was First Secretary in the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, D.C., and from 1991 to 1997 she was an analyst at the Cuban Embassy in Paris, France.

Before entering diplomatic work she had been an Assistant Researcher in the Center of Studies of the United States at the University of Havana.

On 23 July 2017 Reuters reported that Vidal was to be transferred to the post of Cuban Ambassador to Canada,[4] [5] [6] but this was not reflected in official Cuban sources.

In August 2017 it was reported that Vidal had travelled to Moscow in late July for talks with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and the Cuban Ambassador in Moscow Emilio Lozada Garcia.[7] [8]

In 2021, she became Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Personal life

She is fluent in English, French, and Russian

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Josefina de la Caridad Vidal Ferreiro. Biography. Cuba MinRex. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba. 6 September 2017. 26 July 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190726043420/http://cubaeeuu.cubaminrex.cu/tags/josefina-vidal-cuba-minrex. dead.
  2. News: Herrmann. Boris. Profil - Josefina Vidal. 6 September 2017. Süddeutsche Zeitung. 20 May 2015.
  3. News: Yaffe. Helen. Watts. Jonathan. Top diplomatic negotiator in Cuba warns Trump: 'aggression doesn't work'. 6 September 2017. The Guardian. 17 January 2017.
  4. News: Cuba’s top U.S. negotiator named to new post. Reuters. 6 September 2017. 23 July 2017.
  5. Web site: Statement by the Cuban Ambassador to Canada, Josefina Vidal January 30, 2019 . CUBADIPLOMATICA . 13 March 2020.
  6. Web site: cubanew/acn . 2018-03-29 . Josefina Vidal presents diplomatic credentials to Ottawa . 2023-09-07 . Cuban News Agency . en-gb.
  7. News: Ordoñez. Franco. Cuban, Russian officials meet as questions swirl about U.S. diplomats’ hearing-loss. 6 September 2017. McClatchy DC Bureau. 10 August 2017.
  8. News: Gehrke. Joel. Castro huddles with Russia as US-Cuba relationship crumbles. 6 September 2017. Washington Examiner. 11 August 2017.