Elvira Carrillo Cardenas

Farewell, Dearest Elvira

The loss of Elvira Carrillo Cardenas will be mourned all over the world by people involved with conservation and sustainable use. By people who admire courage, honesty, compassion and dedication. Elvira was simply a great person, a great Cuban, a great "Latino". A person with an awesome capacity for work and an uncanny ability to motivate those around her. She genuinely loved people and life, and this love was moulded into all aspects of her professional pursuits.

Elvira dedicated the last decade of her life to winning international support for the right of two local Cuban communities to sustainably harvest Hawksbill Turtles, and through international trade, to receive the economic benefits they deserved from that harvest. To those people she is a real hero. The barriers placed in the pathway of her achieving those goals often seemed insurmountable. They sometimes arose transparently from the deliberations of genuine people, genuinely concerned about the ramifications of her vision. But many obstacles were created in back room deals by people by "wolves in sheep's clothing" - specialists in deception and biopolitics.

I cannot begin to tell you how devastating and stressful some of these obstacles were to Elvira's small team. Always under-resourced, always trying to maintain high standards in science and management responsibility. Always operating against a backdrop of economic hardship. But Elvira never veered from the course she had set herself. Each new barrier and setback was followed by a determined rally of spirit, that overcame the problem and cranked enthusiasm back into those around her.

There is no doubt that COP11 should have seen an end to the monumental conflict with which she had been living. It should have seen Elvira' efforts rewarded, and it should have seen the stresses she worked under lifted once and for all. But it was not to be. A decade of continual stress, and the prospect of more in the future, finally took it's toll. That she died of a broken heart is more than medical reality.

Her passing has brought sadness and grief to many genuine people all around the world. It has left her husband Coffigny alone and in darkness. He will need our help and support - our words of understanding. It has brought her tight-knit research team - her family - to its knees. If this loss strengthens the resolve of those around her to push even harder to see her vision implemented, her untimely loss will not be in vain. There is no doubt at all that this is what Elvira would expect - the legacy she has left to all her friends and colleagues.

Grahame Webb

Elvira Carillo a donné sa vie à la cause qu’elle savait juste, même si, jusqu’à ce jour, elle n’a pas encore été reconnue comme telle au niveau international, du moins pas par une minorité qui croit pouvoir continuer à imposer ses propres volontés aux dépens, voire au mépris des valeurs qui sont au coeur même de l’existence d’autres être humains. Elvira nous a donc quitté, vaincue par la maldie et malgré sa volonté, et le plus bel hommage que nous pouvons et voulons lui rendre c’est de lui promettre de poursuivre l’objectif qui était le sien et d’aider ceux qui ont participé à son combat et qui devront maintenant agir sans elle. Ce n’est certes pas une tâche facile, mais la raison finira par vaincre et ce sera aussi sa victoire.

Aujourd’hui, avec ton mari Coffigny, avec les tiens, avec tes collègues et tes nombreux amis, nous te pleurons Elvira, mais ton souvenir restera pour toujours dans nos coeurs et dans nos esprits, pour nous rappeler certes les merveilleux moments passés en ta compagnie, à Cuba surtout mais aussi ailleurs de par le monde, et pour nous donner le courage et la volonté de ne jamais abandonner la lutte lorsqu’elle vise à un idéal respectueux des être humains et de la conservation des ressources naturelles dont ils dépendent. Notre très chère amie, nous t’aimerons pour toujours.

Elvira Carillo entregó su vida a una causa que sabía justa. La conocimos embarcándonos en una misma labor que aun se resiste a ser reconocida internationalmente debido a una minoría que cree poder imponer su voluntad, aun despreciando los valores representativos de otras culturas. Elvira nos ha dejado, vencida por una enfermedad que pudo más que su gran voluntad. Esa misma voluntad a la cual queremos rendir homenaje prometiéndo que seguiremos trabajando para alcanzar esa meta que Elvira se había fijado, ayudando a aquellos que participaron en su combate y que hoy deberán continuar sin ella. De hecho, no es tarea fácil. Pero la razón siempre termina por imponerse y será entonces que Elvira tendrá su victoria.

Hoy, junto a tu marido Coffigny y los tuyos, junto a tus colegas y numerosos amigos, nos toca llorarte Elvira. Pero tu recuerdo nos acompañará siempre en nuestro corazón y espíritu, para recordarnos tu risa y buen humor y los maravillosos momentos compartidos, tanto en tu Cuba como en otras partes del mundo. Para darnos el coraje y la voluntad de nunca abandonar la lucha si ésta persigue un ideal respetuoso de la vida humana y de la conservación de los recursos naturales de los que aquella depende. Nuestra querida amiga, siempre te querremos.