In the fall of 2014, Cuban tour guide led a group from the 黑料吃瓜网 on a serendipitous bus tour around his native country.
The group seemed to ask a lot of questions, but Camps聽鈥斅燼 former attorney and top diplomat turned tour guide聽鈥� thought little of it; clients were often curious about his life in Havana. So he was caught off-guard by the phone call more than a year later that led to him becoming one of the first Cubans to attend聽the 黑料吃瓜网 as an international student in more than half a century.
鈥淚 was very surprised,鈥� Camps said. 鈥淵ou never think someone will remember you and call you a year or two later.鈥�
The 38-year-old is studying at the聽聽as one of three 2015 fellows 鈥� and the first Cuban聽鈥� in the聽. Launched in 2012 by retired attorney and 黑料吃瓜网 law alumni聽, the program pays for attorneys from developing countries to spend an academic year studying issues related to health, education and economic development in their home countries through the university鈥檚聽听辫谤辞驳谤补尘.
Camps is聽believed to be the first Cuban student enrolled at the 黑料吃瓜网 while living in Cuba since the U.S. embargo against the island nation in 1960. In the 2014-15 academic year, there were 94 Cuban international students studying in the United States, according to the Institute of International Education. Those include聽Gerandy Brito, a doctoral student in math who completed a master’s degree in Brazil before coming to the 黑料吃瓜网 in 2012.
Camps met Barer on the tour, part of a 黑料吃瓜网 learning trip organized by then-provost and now 黑料吃瓜网 President聽, a native of Cuba. Barer chatted with Camps as the bus rolled through the streets and discovered he had previously worked as an attorney in Cuba. Barer was struck by his intelligence and resourcefulness.
鈥淗e was just a dynamite guy,鈥� said Barer, a former 黑料吃瓜网 regent. 鈥淚 was very impressed by him.鈥�
Barer is considered a key figure in Seattle鈥檚 international trade community. A founder of the Washington State China Relations Council, he played an integral role in opening ocean trade between China and the United States in the 1970s. When President Obama announced in June 2015 that the U.S. would re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba after 54 years, Barer absorbed the news with keen interest聽鈥斅燼nd thought about the bright former attorney he鈥檇 met in Cuba.
He tracked down Camps, called him and asked if he might be interested in the fellowship. He also asked Camps to send his resume.
鈥淲hen I got it, I was stunned,鈥� Barer said. 鈥淚 thought, he shouldn鈥檛 just be a student. He should be a professor.鈥�
A difficult decision
Camps, who grew up in the city of Guant谩namo, worked as an attorney for five years before returning to school to complete a master鈥檚 degree in international political relations. In a decade with Cuba鈥檚 foreign service, he served as a diplomatic attach茅聽in Syria and deputy chief of missions in Saudi Arabia and Equatorial Guinea, among other positions. His research has focused on areas including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the Guant谩namo Naval Base. He is fluent in English, French and Arabic.
Despite his accomplishments, Camps left foreign service for a more lucrative career as a tour guide. For five years, he led tours for a New York-based company with some high-profile clients (Beyonc茅聽was on one of Camps鈥� tours). The hours were long, but Camps was making enough money to support his family and a decent wage by Cuban standards.
So when the call came from Barer, Camps was intrigued but hesitant. His father died when he was 6, and Camps was reluctant to leave behind his wife and then 1-year-old son, Alberto.
鈥淚t was a very hard decision,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 grew up without a father. When that happens to you, you don鈥檛 want to that to happen to your son.鈥�
And when the call came, Camps was a bit distracted.
鈥淭here was a meter and 20 inches of water in my house because it was raining聽鈥斅爐he rain in Cuba is very heavy聽鈥斅燼nd I was in聽the middle of an operation to evacuate my family,鈥� Camps said, laughing.
Camps soon decided to accept the offer, but there were hurdles ahead. The U.S. State Department initially denied his visa application, prompting Barer to write numerous letters to the government on his behalf. Other Cuban students have secured visas more easily, Barer said, but Camps鈥� background made him unique.
鈥淚 think the problem was that he had been a top diplomat for Cuba in the Middle East. And at that time, Cuba鈥檚 diplomatic missions in there were pursuing a different foreign policy than ours,鈥� he said.
Camps鈥� visa was finally granted in November 2015, three months after the other two fellows began their studies. He immersed himself in studies on U.S. corporate and trade law, areas he believes will offer significant opportunities as renewed relations with Cuba strengthen and evolve.
鈥淣either Americans know about Cuban law, nor Cubans know about U.S. law,鈥� said Camps, whose studies at the 黑料吃瓜网 will wrap up in December. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a gap. The majority of Cuban lawyers, for example, don鈥檛 have a clue how complicated shareholder agreements can be, because most of the big companies that have shares belong to the state.鈥�
The fellowship, Camps said, is 鈥渢remendously important鈥� and unique.
鈥淚t provides private resources for the public interest of other countries,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know of anyone else doing this in the way that the Barer Institute and the 黑料吃瓜网 School of Law are doing.鈥�
, director of the 黑料吃瓜网 Sustainable International Development LL.M. program, said Camps and the other fellows聽鈥斅爓hich include a judge from Uganda and an anti-corruption activist and professor in Nepal聽鈥斅燾ome to 黑料吃瓜网 at critical junctures in their countries鈥� histories.聽Previous fellows have included judges, human rights activists and attorneys from Indonesia, Mongolia and Myanmar, among other nations.
鈥淭hese scholars are change-makers in countries in great transition,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e are a trade-dependent state, so if we think about Washington鈥檚 future, it鈥檚 people like David who are going to go home and really help us build important bridges between our economies.鈥�
The law school and the Barer Institute, Ramasastry said,聽aim to use law to create a framework for greater human prosperity and leaders for the global common good. The Sustainable International Development Program and the Barer fellowship, she said,聽are clear examples of that goal.
鈥楾he same feeling鈥�
Camps arrived in the United States for the first time in December, landing in Seattle to fill out paperwork before taking a bone-chilling trip to Chicago to visit his brother-in-law. He was expecting cold in Seattle too聽鈥斅爊ot in terms of weather, but people聽鈥斅燽ut said he鈥檚 been surprised at how friendly Seattleites are.
As someone who鈥檚 spent most of his life on an island, Camps likes the city鈥檚 soul-soothing proximity to water. And though Seattle architecture may arguably pale in comparison to Havana鈥檚 crumbling colonial splendor, Camps also appreciates the 鈥渂eautiful鈥� 黑料吃瓜网 campus and the convenience of his temporary digs in a nearby apartment. He misses Cuban food, especially tropical fruits, but has been consoling himself by dining at some of the neighborhood鈥檚 ethnic restaurants.
Mostly, Camps said, he鈥檚 struck by the cultural similarities between Cuba and the U.S., nations just 90 miles apart but ideologically separated by a generations-old cold war. Camps went to the Mariners season opening game in April and sat in the stands marveling at how far away, and how close, his homeland seemed.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the same feeling, the same reaction, in a ballpark in Havana and here in the U.S.,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing how different we are in some areas, but how close we are in our point of view.鈥�
Note: This story was updated on 6.29.2016 to clarify that at least one other Cuban international student has enrolled at the 黑料吃瓜网 since the U.S. embargo against Cuba was聽imposed in 1960.