GG First payment from A. Sánchez de Bustamante 1915

In 1915 Gustavo Gutiérrez received his first check while working for Cuba's most prestigious law firm headed by it's founder, Antonio Sanchez de Bustamante, whose signature can be seen in the bottom right hand portion of the check. Gustavo was 20 years old at the time. The 50 pesos were paid in gold. His father, Miguel Gutiérrez y Gutiérrez, a wealthy tobacco grower and Spanish immigrant from Santillana del Mar, Santander province in northern Spain, had to sign (on the back side) for his young son, most likely because Gustavo had no bank account of his own.

Sánchez de Bustamante Law Firm 1942

The law firm headed by Antoino Sánchez de Bustamante was the most prestigious law firm in Cuba at the time. In this photograph we see seated from left to right; Dr. Gustavo Gutiérrez, Dr. Miguel Angel de l a Campa, Dr. Antonio Sanchez de Bustamante, Dr. Jose Manuel Cortina, Dr. Hernandez Cartaya. On the top row, standing, we find Dr. Cesar Salaya, Dr. Alberto del Junco and (the tallest centered in the middle) Dr. José Manuel Cortina y Corrales, among others. The exact date of this photograph is not known. I have "guess-timated" the date as being 1942. It was most likely taken between the late 1930s and the early 1940s.

Chapultapec Conference, Mexico CIty 1945

The Mexican newspaper El Universal published an article on the 21st of February, 1945, announcing the "Conferencia para el Estudio de los Problemas de la Guerra y de la Paz en America" (Conference for the Study of the Problems of War and Peace in América) which took place in the Legislative Palace in Mexico City.

The above picture shows Dr Gutiérrez with his wife and the wife of Cuban delegate, Dr. Emilio Nuñez Portuondo. The top photograph shows the Cámara de Diputados (Chamber of Deputies). The Cuban delegation is in the front row and Gr. Gutiérrez can be seen third from the top. Follow the balding head!

The Cuban Delegation consisted of Gustavo Cuervo Rubio, César Salaya, Gustavo Gutiérrez, Guillermo Belt, Marco A. Kohly, Ernesto Dihigo, Pelayo Cuervo Navarro, Luis Machado, Eduardo R. Chibas, Ramiro Hernandez Portela, Emilio Nuñez Portuondo, Gonzalo Güell, Manuel Bisbé, Mariano Brull, Manuel Dorta Duque, Alberto Espinoza.

In 2008 Indiana University Press published "Human Rights at the UN, The Political History of Universal Justice," written by Roger Normand and Sarah Zaidi. Under the heading "Chapultapec: Rebellion or Reaction?" the authors write, "The dissatisfaction of Latin American governments found expression in an extraordinary meeting in February 1945 at Chapultapec Castle in Mexico City, where twenty Latin American countries and a large delegation from the United States participated in the Inter-American Conference on Problems of War and Peace. They reviewed the Dunbarton Oaks proposals in details and introduced 150 draft resolutions urging substantial reforms, many addressing human rights. (49)"..."Cuba submitted two detailed proposals for consideration, a "Draft Declaration of the International Rights and Duties of the Individual" and a "Draft Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Nations. (50)" These two drafts were written by Dr. Gustavo Gutierrez in a book entitled La Carta Magna de la Comunidad de Naciones. Please see blog entry for December, 2008 entitled "The Magna Carta of the Community of Nations, 1945." Later that year the Cuban delegation in San Francisco would present the Gutierrez draft for consideration in the creation of a universal declaration of human rights. Please see blog entry Universal Declaration of Human Rights #1, December, 2010.

GG Prepares the Capitol Building for International Conference 1947 (Havana Charter)

The above article written by Fernando Villaverde, appeared in a Havana newspaper on November 18, 1947. The title reads, "He gives a bath to the Capitol Building." Mr. Villaverde interviewed Dr. Gustavo Gutiérrez who at the time was president of the auxiliary commission in charge of preparing the Capital Building for the upcoming United Nations World Conference on the Expansion of Commerce and Employment. Cuba and Dr. Gutiérrez hosted the conference on the 21st of December, 1947, representing 57 nations and with 2,500 delegates in attendance. (Please see blog entry, "The Havana Charter (La Carta de la Habana) 1947/48, October, 2008). Dr. Gutiérrez closed the conference with a speech that can be read in blog entry " Havana Charter GG closing remarks, 1948" February, 2010.

Dr. Gutiérrez's daughter Yolanda shares with us this anecdote. " During the weeks prior to the Conference I recall my father saying with great frustration, " This is the city where every difficulty and inconvenience can be surely predicted and expected."