Josefina Vidal
{{Short description|Cuban diplomat}}
{{family name hatnote|Vidal|Ferreiro|lang=Spanish}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Josefina Vidal
| image = Secretary Kerry Stands for the Cuban National Anthem at the Newly Re-Opened U.S. Embassy Havana (20384510058) cropped Vidal.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Josefina Vidal Ferreiro (2015)
| office1 = Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cuba
| term_start1 = 2021
| term_end1 =
| office2 = Director General, North American Division, Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs
| term2 = 2013 - ?
| office3 = First Secretary, Cuban Interests Section
| term3 = 1999 - 2003
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1961|02|18|df=yes}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| education = Moscow State Institute of International Relations
| occupation =
| spouse =
| children =
}}
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.{{cite web|title=Josefina de la Caridad Vidal Ferreiro. Biography|url=http://cubaeeuu.cubaminrex.cu/tags/josefina-vidal-cuba-minrex|website=Cuba MinRex|publisher=Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba|accessdate=6 September 2017|archive-date=26 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726043420/http://cubaeeuu.cubaminrex.cu/tags/josefina-vidal-cuba-minrex|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|last1=Herrmann|first1=Boris|title=Profil - Josefina Vidal|url=http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/profil-josefina-vidal-1.2487024|accessdate=6 September 2017|work=Süddeutsche Zeitung|date=20 May 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Yaffe|first1=Helen|last2=Watts|first2=Jonathan|title=Top diplomatic negotiator in Cuba warns Trump: 'aggression doesn't work'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/17/cuba-donald-trump-diplomatic-relations-obama|accessdate=6 September 2017|work=The Guardian|date=17 January 2017}}
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,{{cite news|title=Cuba's top U.S. negotiator named to new post|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cuba/cubas-top-u-s-negotiator-named-to-new-post-idUSKBN1A80XL|work=Reuters|accessdate=6 September 2017|date=23 July 2017}}{{cite web |title=Statement by the Cuban Ambassador to Canada, Josefina Vidal January 30, 2019 |url=http://misiones.minrex.gob.cu/en/articulo/statement-cuban-ambassador-canada-josefina-vidal-january-30-2019 |website=CUBADIPLOMATICA |accessdate=13 March 2020 |archive-date=9 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190909221142/http://misiones.minrex.gob.cu/en/articulo/statement-cuban-ambassador-canada-josefina-vidal-january-30-2019 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web |last=cubanew/acn |date=2018-03-29 |title=Josefina Vidal presents diplomatic credentials to Ottawa |url=http://www.cubanews.acn.cu/cuba/7923-josefina-vidal-presents-diplomatic-credentials-to-ottawa |access-date=2023-09-07 |website=Cuban News Agency |language=en-gb}} but {{as of|September 2017|lc=y}} 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.{{cite news|last1=Ordoñez|first1=Franco|title=Cuban, Russian officials meet as questions swirl about U.S. diplomats' hearing-loss|url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article166578487.html|accessdate=6 September 2017|work=McClatchy DC Bureau|date=10 August 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Gehrke|first1=Joel|title=Castro huddles with Russia as US-Cuba relationship crumbles|url=http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/castro-huddles-with-russia-as-us-cuba-relationship-crumbles/article/2631231|accessdate=6 September 2017|work=Washington Examiner|date=11 August 2017}}
In 2021, she became Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Personal life
She is fluent in English, French, and Russian
References
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Category:Moscow State Institute of International Relations alumni
Category:Cuban women ambassadors
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