About me
I was born in Barcelona in 1950 and raised in Palma de Mallorca Spain. On completion of my secondary education I received an American Field Service (AFS) scholarship for a year of study and experience in the US (1967-68). I attended the last year of High School and lived with a wonderful and loving American family in Orinda, Califonia about 40 minutes from San Francisco. After 40 years I am still in close contact with them and visit them occasionally. I graduated from Barcelona University School of Law in 1973, and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship for the Masters in Comparative Law programme at New York University, where I graduated in 1974. I practiced law in Barcelona (1974-77) and became a member of the New York Bar in 1977. From 1978 to 1991 I practiced law at an international law firm in New York, where I was named a law partner in 1985. In December 1991 I decided to retire from law practice due to health reasons, having been diagnosed with AIDS and given less than one year to live.

This was a deeply transformational period for me. At the time, an AIDS diagnosis was equivalent to a death senstence, so I had to deal with that with only 10 Tcells, which I named by name: "Catalina, Gumersinda, Mageritta..." hahha!! I told them to get to work beacuse I was depending on them to get me through... And, well... I survived! I took advantege of my newly found free time to sing with The New York Choral Society, take Tai-Chi lessons, follow courses at the Carl G. Jung Institute in Zurich and take long train rides through Europe, mostly to visit friends. Most importantly, I found a new meaning in life through Jung´s world-view, which resonated profoundly inside me.

In view that I was not ready to "kick the bucket"l (at least not yet! hahha!!) in 2001 I decided to do something! I became a CIVICUS individual associate, and in 2002 our Secretary General, Kumi Naidoo (a really cool guy), even being fully aware of my health limitations, was kind enough to offer me to serve CIVICUS as its UN Representative, wich I have done on a volunteer basis since then. At the UN in New York I work in collaboration with other UN-accredited NGOs and civil society coalitions toward increased civil society participation, particularly from the Global South, and the further democratisation of the United Nations System. Because of my health limitations, may times I cannot be as active as I would like at the UN, but Kumi and all my other colleagues at CIVICUS know I do as much as I can, and hey are happy with that. I am gay and live in New York City with Carlos, my loving partner (Carlos is HIV negative and I really love him for having accepted me unconditionally despite my HIV status.) And. well... here we are...!
I was born in Barcelona in 1950 and raised in Palma de Mallorca Spain. On completion of my secondary education I received an American Field Service (AFS) scholarship for a year of study and experience in the US (1967-68). I attended the last year... (more)