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ICEFA 2016 Prize Awards – Mexico, Mexico City
1. 11. 2016
On the occasion of the national holiday on 28 October the Embassy in Mexico organised a festive reception. The event was attended by circa 180 guests, among them First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico Carlos de Icaza Gonzáles, General Director for Europe Francisco del Río, the chairman of the parliamentary Group of Friendship Mexico – Czech Republic Tristan Canales along with some of its members, the chairman of the Foreign Committee of the Mexican Chamber of Deputies Victor Manuel Giorgana Jiménez, several dozens of Ambassadors of EU- and other countries as well as other representatives of the diplomatic community, representatives of Czech companies operating in Mexico, a number of Mexican entrepreneurs and representatives of the Czech compatriot community.
After the anthems of Mexico, the Czech Republic and the European Union, in his ceremonial and slightly non-traditional speech, Ambassador Lubomír Hladík summarised the results of his two-year work in Mexico, mentioning the significance of Mexico for the Czech Republic as its most important partner in Latin America. He appreciated the assistance and co-operation the Embassy has received from the Mexican partners and Czechs living in Mexico in fulfilling the tasks of the Embassy, extending his thanks also to his colleagues at the Embassy. He also mentioned the visit of President M. Zeman that has been planned to take place in early 2017. He concluded mentioning the history of the Czech beer Budvar (imported to Mexico under the label Czechvar) and the relation of the Czech brewing industry with the working-class profession of once-persecuted President V. Havel. Several times, the speech was appreciated with applause. During his speech also a small ceremony took place at which Xavier Gowen, a ten-year-old Mexican pupil, was presented with a certificate and a commemorative medal of the 44th International Children's Exhibition of Fine Arts organised by the Lidice Memorial as one of 13 out of upwards of 18,000 participants in total.
A lot of the success of the event was due to financial assistance from Czech companies operating in Mexico and the support of the sponsors (beer, tequilla, ham, coffee etc.). The cultural programme included a performance by the classical Trio Cronos that performed several Czech and Mexican pieces (among others two compositions by A. Dvořák, the Spanish version of the song Roll Out the Barrels and several popular classical Mexican songs).
The response to the event was very favourable: still in the course of the event a number of participants expressed their views that in social and cultural terms, it was one of the best receptions organised by any of the embassies in Mexico in last years.
JUDr. Ivan Dubovický
