The soccer world showed its generous spirit with its support of the second edition of Champions for Africa, an event organized by UNICEF and the Kanouté Foundation, sponsored by BBVA and supported by the Spanish Football League and the National Sports Council. The presentation ceremony took place this morning in the Santiago Bernabéu, and was presided over by the president of Real Madrid C.F., Florentino Pérez. Soccer players Frédéric Kanouté and Sergio Ramos attended in their capacities as captains of the two teams who will play each other in this charity event.

The president of UNICEF, Spain, Consuelo Crespo, gave the opening speech for the event, expressing her gratitude to the soccer world for participating in the charity event. The proceeds will go towards promoting education in Africa, under the aegis of the Schools for Africa program. Ms. Crespo said that this project, which has been in operation since 2004, has already benefited over 3.6 million children, and that the proceeds from this match could benefit another 100,000 children.

The president of Sevilla FC, José María del Nido, was also present. Last year his team hosted the first edition of the event and today he symbolically handed over his responsibilities as “witness” for Champions for Africa to Florentino Pérez.

The president of the Professional Soccer League (LFP), José Luis Astiazarán, also attended and stated that the LFP felt privileged to be able to participate in this initiative, and expressed his desire to officiate over this collaborative effort in the future, and to thereby “return to society part of what the soccer world has received”.

Antoni Ballabriga, head of corporate responsibility for BBVA was also present, representing the event’s main sponsor. Mr. Ballabriga noted that BBVA already assists over 50,000 children in Latin America through its Niños Adelante scholarship program. With this new project, BBVA will provide assistance to 25,000 children in Africa through schooling, school construction, installation of sewage systems, and health and prevention initiatives.

Both Sergio Ramos and Frédéric Kanouté, captains of the teams which will play each other on December 22, Africa United vs. Liga BBVA, spoke of the project with great enthusiasm. Sergio Ramos, captain of the Liga BBVA team, declared, “you have to be human and remember that there are others who have nothing", and that this project was a marvelous way to do so.

Frédéric Kanouté, captain of Africa United, described the City of Children project on the outskirts of Bamako, run by the Kanouté Foundation. This space will be inaugurated in four or five months and will have the capacity to house 150 homeless, orphaned children from Bamako. Lastly, he expressed his thanks to Real Madrid for ceding the Bernabéu for the event and announced that the best African players from the Spanish, English and Italian leagues will be playing.

The proceeds from the second edition of Champions for Africa will be earmarked for UNICEF’s Schools for Africa project and the Nelson Mandela Foundation, whose goal is to provide African children with quality education: reconstruction and refurbishment of schools, water treatment, sewage systems and medical care.

The presentation was closed by the president of Real Madrid, Florentino Pérez, who highlighted the importance of the UNICEF initiative and the active participation of Kanouté, and predicted a successful outcome for the match on December 22 ; and the Secretary of State – President of the High Council for Sport,, Jaime Lissavetzky, who underscored the ambitious scope of this project which began only last year in Seville. In this regard, he acknowledged the government’s collaboration in the event and also expressed his gratitude to the private businesses which have participated in the project. “I hope that Champions for Africa serves as another stepping stone towards making this continent the leading light in the twenty-first century. This is Africa’s hour and sports is one of its star mediums”.

• 60 masterpieces from the BBVA collection are on exhibit in Mexico, and will be later shown in Colombia and Chile, to commemorate the bicentennial of the independence of these countries.
• The exhibition, curated by Tomás Llorens, includes pieces by such notable artists as Siqueiros, Goya, Libero Badií, Fernando Szyszlo, Matta, Gómez Campuzano and Martín Tovar

The Confluences exhibition. Two centuries of modernity at the BBVA Collection opened on November 12 in the National Museum of San Carlos in Mexico city, and subsequently travel to Colombia and Chile. The exhibit includes approximately 60 works, comprising paintings, sculptures and works on paper, from the BBVA Group’s permanent collection in several Latin American countries (Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Spain, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela). The pieces on display are from the last 200 years by renowned artists such as Siqueiros, Leonora Carrington, Goya, Libero Badií, Fernando Szyszlo, Matta, Gómez Campuzano and Martín Tovar, which will provide the Mexican, Colombian and Chilean publics with different historical interpretations and show the common and different iconographic references in Europe and America. This BBVA-backed cultural initiative is part of the Bicentennial commemoration in various Latin American countries.

The BBVA Collection in countries where the bank has a presence is the result of the merging of the permanent collection of the various financial institutions which are now a part of BBVA group. A great number of styles and schools will be on display in this show, mainly from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela, as well as others from different European and American schools.

The curator of the exposition, the professor and former director of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid, Tomás LLorens, has gathered together 19th and 20th century works from the BBVA Collection which use a wide range of styles to depict and interpret historical events in Latin America. He has focused on the most important styles of this period, which developed across different societies, with the aim of capturing the essence of modernity. The show is divided into four different themes: The romantic imagination; The turn of the 19th/20th century. Naturalism and Symbolism; The first half of the 20th century. Naturalism and Symbolism; The first half of the 20th century. The state of the image.

The romantic imagination

The exhibit starts with one of the longest-lived artistic and literary movements of the 19th century: romanticism, which breathed new life into the plastic arts and especially in landscapes. Romanticism ushered in a new, more imaginative approach, which was highly visible in Spanish and Latin American painting. Characteristics include a heightened interest in the individual, especially in portraits; the portrayal of social customs; and the love of nature made evident in depictions of landscapes.

The portrait of Pantaleón Pérez de Nenin, an oil painting by Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828), is an example of a portrait that evidences the public function and social rank of the person posing for the painter. It is a highly complex work, showing a merchant from Bilbao dressed in the uniform of a captain of the Hussar regiment. The work is painted with an attention to detail and fluency that brings to mind Velazquez. In addition, there is a portrait of Simón Bolívar by the Venezuelan Martín Tovar y Tovar (1827-1902), which uses a similar style, depicting “the Liberator” in fairly stereotypical pose, based on old engravings.

The work, Portrait of a Lady (Retrato de una dama) by Raimundo de Madrazo (1841-1920) was also selected, by virtue of its expressiveness and elegance in capturing the feminine archetype. Similarly, a tablet by Nicanor González (1864-1934), captures the profile of an unknown woman, as if to pay homage to a face that caught the artist’s attention.

Among the scenes from quotidian life, ten engravings from Goya’s series, Los Caprichos, are included. These are strong examples from one of the Aragon artist’s most important chalcographic periods major series de Goya, and depict and satirise scenes and customs from feudal Spain, with a revolutionary perspective that combines the grotesque and the fantastic. Another example of the mannerist style are the four watercolours by Pancho Fierro (1807-1879), which shows situations and common people from viceroy-ruled Lima.

Lastly, this section  features an important oil painting of a landscape by Pablo Gonzalvo (1828-1896), showing a vista of the mouth of the Abra de Bilbao river; a spectacular seascape by Ramón Martí i Alsina (1826-1894); three good examples of the Chilean school, with a piece by Giovanni Mochi (1831-1892), La Carreta, depicting tranquil country life; in contrast with the Paisaje de Cordillera by Antonio Smith (1832-1877), which is illuminated with the sun’s last rays; and the Paisaje estero by Onofre Jarpa (1849-1940), which shows a more peaceful image of nature, and which is imbued with the expressiveness of the light. The work Puente de piedra by Colombian artist, Ricardo Gómez Campuzano (1891-1981) is a good example of a neoromantic landscape painting. 

The turn of the 19th/20th century. Between naturalism and symbolism

In the second part, naturalism and localism are explored, as fundamental characteristics of the modern age, as Tomás Llorens attests in the catalogue:  “…the relationship between naturalism and symbolism, two theoretically opposed poles in the modernist sensibility, is complex, and full of ambiguity. In this regard, Estudio de una calavera (1883),an early oil painting by Darío Regoyos (1857-1913), melds symbolism with a markedly naturalist language; Seguidillas gitanas, an early painting by Darío Regoyos (1857-1913), has affinities with Belgium symbolism from the turn of the century. The Basque artist also has another painting in the show, Puerto de Bilbao, with echoes of French impressionism.

Francesc Gimeno (1857-1917) is on the opposite end of the spectrum, with an approach that is characterised by its localism, as can be seen in his landscape Playa. Bagur, which has a certain continuity in the work of Enrique Martínez Cubells (1875-1947), whose Fin de jornada (1909) combines elements of Sorolla’s late style with that of Zorn.

The work of Santiago Rusiñol (1861-1931) is characterised by the variety of styles he experimented with over his long career, starting with his residence in Paris to his engagement with symbolism. In the last decades of his life, he painted an unusual work depicting neoclassical gardens, saturated with melancholy, Avets i boixos. Jardines de Martí Codolar, painted in 1927. On a similar note, we would mention Paisaje impresionista, by the Argentine, Cesáreo Bernardo de Quirós (1879-1968), an autumn garden populated by statues charged with symbolism.

Francisco Iturrino (1864-1924), in Mujer con abanico, sets his sights on the Andalusian theme which was in vogue in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century, while Aurelian Arleta (1879-1940) in his early work, La Perez y el taboo, creates an allegory about work, synthesizing Italian mural painting with the symbolism of Purvis de Chavannes.

Four artists close this section: Chilean Arturo Gordon (1883-1944) and Spaniard Angelo Miguel Nieto (1881-1964), who painted two feminine figures with allegorical overtones: Peruvian, José Sabogal (1888-1956), who in Rimac, arrabal portrays houses lost in a desolate mountain landscape, an image charged with melancholy; and the mix of indigenous sensibility with modern stylisation of Alejandro González Trujillo (1900-1983) in Yurak Orcco, an Andean vista in the Titicaca region.

The first half of the 20th century. The vanguard and the modern tradition

In the first decades of the last century, the art world was rocked by the clash between the vanguard and the traditional status quo, both in Europe and America, although it had its own unique characteristics in Latin America and Spain. Artists were especially receptive to artisanal processes and the possibilities of expression using these techniques.

María Blanchard (1881-1932) lived in Paris in the years prior to World War I. Although she embraced Cubism after the war ended, Composition avec tache rouge contains traces of synthetic cubism, and has elements which bring to mind Juan Gris and Gleizes. Manuel Ángeles Ortiz (1895-1984), from Granada, took a different route. His oil painting, Cabezas múltiples, painted in 1976, was heavily influenced by music, like almost all his oeuvre.

In the first half of the century in Mexico there was a strong relationship between the artistic vanguard and political revolution in certain circles. This section has several examples of this phenomenon.  Dr. Alt -Gerardo Murillo- (1875-1964), who painted Volcán Paricutín, opened up new horizons, for many artists in the Mexican vanguard.  The painting Paisaje I by David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974) is also shown. This is a late work, but with syncretic overtones always at the service of the collective spirit. A painting by Leonora Carrington (1917), The Spheres Themselves, a composition based on ancestral cosmologies, is also on display. Carrington was the former lover of Max Ernst and did most of her work in Mexico.

Other Latin American artists who were a part of the second generation of surrealists, such as the Chilean Roberto Matta (1911-2002), whose oil painting La imposible posibilidad denounced Pinochet’s coup d'état. Like Matta, the Ecuadorian Guayasamín (1919-1999) also stands out. He was influenced by Mexican muralist movement and indigenous traditions, as can be seen in his highly syncretic Maternidad.
 
This section closes with Puerto, an oil painting from 1957 by Pancho Cossío (1894-1970), and with a sculpture by painter and sculptor Antonio López (1936). This painting fits into the fourth section of the exhibit in chronological terms, but he has another work, titled Mujer dormida, in which the Manchegan creator explores the possibilities of a new realism based on mimesis.

The second half of the 20th century. The state of the image

According to the show's curator, Tomás Llorens, society in the second half of the 20th century was shaped by the growth in communication networks and by the massive industrial proliferation of images through these networks.  In this section there are two main pillars: abstraction, during the middle decades of the 20th century, and starting in the 60s and 70s, Pop Art, which was based to a large degree on the proliferation of icons of popular culture.

In abstract expressionism, the North American artistic movement, we should mention the Spaniard José Guerrero (1914-1991), who lived in New York from 1950 and became a part of the New York expressionist movement. In his work Comienzo, painted in 1983, the primacy of colour overpowers the iconic elements of the work. 

Before Guerrero arrived in Spain, Spanish informalism was the dominant trend. This movement was an offshoot of a European movement that held sway over the art scene during the 50s and 60s. Notables in this group include Antoni Tàpies (1925), whose work Forma gris blavós (1955) suggests the head of one of Paul Klee’s angels, with the materico texture which characterises his work; the dynamism and variety of the El Paso group, founded in 1957, whose luminaries include Manuel Millares (1926-1972), and whose canvas titled Cuadro 2, is populated by anthropomorphic forms which, thanks to the stark black and white palette accentuates the expressive atmosphere. This palette is also used a great deal by Antonio Saura (1930-1998), a painter who mixes figurative elements in his work, which shows the influence of Goya, Velázquez and Picasso, especially in Dora Maar 15.5.83.

Luis Feito (1929) is another member of the El Paso group and his canvas Pintura (167) is characterised by its abstract references using a materico approach. It evokes deserts and silences. Manuel Rivera (1927-1995), from Granada, also a member of this group, turned his back on traditional oil painting techniques, to concentrate his energies on his compositions on metallic fabric, exploring the possibilities of this new surface, as can be seen in Espejo naciendo III.  The Peruvian, Fernando de Szyszlo (1925) was a contemporary of the Spanish informalists. His style evolved towards free abstraction, close to informalism, as can be seen in his works, Composición abstracta and Paisaje ritual (1964-1965).

Art centred on visual perception is represented by three contemporary artists: Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz Díez (1923) and  Valencians Eusebio Sempere (1923-1985) and Andreu Alfaro (1929). The first artist has his work Fisicromía nº 1022, on display. This is a piece that follows the precepts of the cinetic movement, and which produces sensations of colour that are independent even from the materiality of the actual work. Eusebio Sempere, meanwhile, is one of the first artists to have introduced electric lights in their work. One of his sculptures, a very experimental chrome steel piece is included in this exhibit, and invites viewers’ imagination to wander around the object.  Andreu Alfaro, is a self-taught artist and a committed researcher, is influenced by classical sculptors and painters but also by jazz. His piece, Composición en espiral (1975), is a sculpture charged with feeling and tension.

Certain artists in 20th century art history, such as Libero Badií (1916-2001) are difficult to classify. This Argentine artist, born in Italy, has a late work on exhibit, Ariadna (h. 1969-1975), in which he experiments with different materials: Cut and painted wood pieces, which bring to mind certain traditional toys, with echoes of Italian futurism.

Although Pop Art is a North American movement, it was actually born in England, and had champions on both sides of the Atlantic. This movement had some important proponents in Spain, although with different characteristics, due to the socio-political situation of the country. In this regard it would be remiss not to also mention Equipo Crónica, a very original group created in Valencia in 1964 by Manolo Valdés, Rafael Solbes and Juan Antonio Toledo. This group engages with the iconography of mass media in a political framework. There is also a self -reflexive component to their work, where they question the artistic vocation, as in their piece Cayetana (1975-1976), where they enter into dialogue with masterpieces such as the Duchess of Alba painted by Goya. Eduardo Arroyo (1937) lived in Paris a large part of his life and was one of the main proponents of the Figuration Narrative movement, which was contemporaneous with Pop Art, although it was more critical of specific political and cultural events. Upon returning to Spain in 1976, he created ironic and allusive works such La Nuit espagnole (1986), where he highlighted the failure of attempts to build a national Spanish identity in the contemporary era.

Lastly, the trajectory of Luis Gordillo (1934), who treated painting as a language and remained utterly indifferent to the socio-political panorama. The Sevillian artist has a triptych in this show: Mouse-paisaje-globo (1986), in a crucial moment for the new generations of Spanish painters. Gordillo has an eclectic, but strong and efficient pictorial style.

Additional information:

Mexico- National Museum of San Carlos From November 12, 2009 to February 28, 2010

Colombia- Bogotá Museum of Modern Art (MAMBO) From March 18 to May 23, 2010

Chile - National Museum of Fine Arts From June 8 through August 15, 2010

• The transaction service units offer cash management products and tailored solutions, collections, payments and working capital facilities to companies, institutions, corporations and MNEs

• The main risk facing the global economy is the premature unwinding of stimulus plans and uncertainty over whether private spending can replace public spending as the main driver of recovery once these plans have been withdrawn
• In 2009, Spanish GDP looks set to contract in line with the rest of the euro zone
• BBVA Economic Research Department estimates higher potential growth (of around 2%) for the Spanish economy once the crisis is over than the EU. Nevertheless, it believes these growth forecasts can be raised if more structural reforms are adopted faster
• According to BBVA Economic Research Department, job losses will gradually ease in 2010, with unemployment stabilizing at around 20%
• The real estate sector continues to struggle and excess supply could begin dropping at the beginning of 2010. Greater access to home buying, with lower interest rates and possibly lower prices, should help the downturn end
• “A more decisive use of fiscal policy for counter-cyclical purposes and the swift adjustment in net trade have helped slow the recession and prevent the fall from being greater than in the rest of Europe”, stated José Luis Escrivá, Chief Economist BBVA Group
• The degearing of the private sector and the Spanish economy’s reduced need for financing intensified in 2009 and should continue into 2010
• Even though monetary policies  remain largely expansive, in 2010 we expect fiscal consolidation

• The more than 7,000 participants in the race have paid a €5 per head charity registration fee for the race, which will go in full to African children in UNHCR’s refugee camps
• BBVA will match this total, guaranteeing a minimum contribution of €70,000
• This BBVA project falls under the aegis of an agreement with the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR), in which it undertakes to finance the primary education of a group of child refugees in Dadaab, Kenya
• The Madrid town council is actively helping organize BBVA’s benefit race, as is Jesús Vázquez, UNHCR Ambassador and the face of the event

• Strong results have helped BBVA generate 110 basis points of core capital since January and, together with other contributions, this brings the core capital ratio to 8%
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• BBVA strengthened its leadership among European banks in terms of efficiency with a 3.7 percentage-point improvement year-on-year, bringing the cost/income ratio to 39.7%
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• BBVA set aside the €830m it obtained in capital gains from the sale of real estate in Spain, to strengthen its generic NPA provisions
• The Group's non-performing assets ratio stands at 3.4%, which compares very favourably with the average of its European competitors, and the quarterly growth of this ratio is slowing
• In the first nine months of the year the Group obtained net attributable profit of €4.18 billion, a decline of 3.3% compared to the same period last year (excluding one-off items)
• BBVA continues to lead the other large financial groups in terms of profitability with ROE at 21.2% and EPS at €1.12. These levels are stable and they are the same as 2008
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• The Group took important steps to reinforce its US franchise by acquiring Guaranty Bank from FDIC

• Recurrent revenues increased. In the year-to-date net interest income rose 19.7% year-on-year thanks to a successful pricing policy and to appropriate management of the balance sheet in the context of a slowdown in business. This positive performance helped to offset the smaller volume of other revenues, helping gross income for the first nine months to grow 6.6% compared to the same period last year (up 9.7% at constant exchange rates).
• Operating costs are dropping at a faster rate, falling 2.4% year-on-year in the year to 30-Sep-09. This helped to lift operating income for the same period to €9,274m, an increase of 13.5% compared to the first nine months of last year (up 18.1% at constant exchange rates).
• The Group completed the sale and lease-back of 948 properties in Spain (mainly branches) for €1,154m, generating €830m in capital gains. These gains were used to increase the Group’s generic loan-loss provisions and therefore had no impact on net attributable profit.
• Impairment losses on financial assets stabilised further during the quarter, again at around 30% of operating income (excluding the €830m mentioned above).
• All business areas contributed to the Group's net attributable profit, which came to €4,179m for the first nine months. As a result BBVA continues to be one of the most profitable big banking groups with an ROE of 21.2% and ROA of 1.11%.
• BBVA’s loan portfolio continues to preserve its high quality and to generate good news in terms of risk management. On one hand, gross additions to non-performing assets continue to decline as well as the the well-conceived policy of recoveries, in a context of highly selective purchases of properties. This helps to slow the growth of the non-performing asset ratio. And on the other hand, the decision to use the capital gains from the sale and lease-back of the bank’s properties to increase the generic provision has improved the coverage ratio. As a result of these developments BBVA ended the quarter with the non-performing asset ratio at 3.4%, 73 basis points lower than the average for its European competitors (based on the latest available figures). The coverage ratio stands at 68%.
• Two aspects of the capital base deserve a mention. First, the Group's ability to generate core capital organically was again apparent in the third quarter, contributing 20 basis points. Second, in September the bank placed a €2,000m bond issue, convertible to ordinary shares, which will provide additional flexibility in capital management. Thus core capital rose to 8.0% at 30-Sep-09 (7.1% at 30-Jun-09) and the BIS ratio increased to 13.4% (12.3% at 30-Jun-09).
• At the end of the third quarter BBVA also had €1,711m in latent capital gains on its more liquid portfolios of equity holdings. The above is without adding capital gains on other portfolios.
• As customary at this time, BBVA paid a second interim dividend of €0.09 per share in cash against 2009 earnings on 12-Oct-09.
• The Spain & Portugal Area contributed €1,877m to the Group’s net attributable profit. This was similar to the same period last year. Although banking business is slowing, the more conservative lending performed well in the quarter, including residential mortgages and lending to institutions and large companies. Savings and current accounts, and pension funds also performed well. As mentioned, gross additions to non-performing assets continued to slow, and as a result the increment in the non-performing asset ratio was less than previous quarters. Lastly, capital gains from the sale and lease-back of real estate were used to strengthen the bank’s balance sheet by allocating them entirely to loan-loss provisions.
• The Wholesale Banking & Asset Management Area continued to demonstrate the strength and success of its business model based on customer focus, as reflected by the high percentage of recurrent earnings. Corporate & Investment Banking and Global Markets enjoyed an excellent quarter, which largely offset lower revenues from divestments of industrial and real estate holdings. Moreover, containment of administration costs and the lower level of loan-loss provisions helped income before tax in the first nine months to increase 16.0% compared to the same period last year. Nonetheless net attributable profit is only 3.7% higher because the capital gains recognised in 2008 were taxed at a low rate.
• Despite the significant deterioration of its economy and the drop in business, in Mexico revenues rose 4.8% year-on-year in local currency. Strict control of costs explains the 7.1% rise in operating income. Impairment on financial assets and provisions were at similar levels of previous quarters in a context of deceleration of the growth of the NPA ratio. The improvement in operating income offset the higher provisions and thus net attributable profit was in line with previous quarters (€1,101m for the year-to-date).
• In the United States BBVA continued to generate earnings without the need for government help and despite the very difficult economic context. In August BBVA Compass acquired the operations of Guaranty Financial Group from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). This reinforces the Group's presence in this country, complementing and anticipating BBVA Compass's plans for organic growth in the Sunbelt. This operation is another sign of BBVA’s strength and solid capital position, which allows it to tackle such operations and to take advantage of opportunities even in difficult times such as those in the international financial sector.
• Lastly, South America turned in another very positive quarter despite the general business slowdown. Revenues increased significantly and expenses were kept under progressive control without impairing asset quality. In the first nine months the area’s  profits before minority interest came to €1,049m , not far from the BBVA Bancomer’s and net attributable profit rose 27.5% year-on-year to €689m (up 27.8% at current exchange rates).

• BBVA simplifies its card catalogue, grouping its entire range into four modules, rendering them more user-friendly and offering higher quality service
• BBVA’s new card formats are to be named based on customer-elected payment options: Before (prepay), Now (debit), After (end of month) and As You Go (revolving)
• The Bank is incorporating the ‘Safe Card’ concept which not only anticipates migration to the EMV chip card standard, but also includes a free customer upgrade to the most comprehensive security package on the market
• The Bank, which already has a card portfolio of 10 million, aims to sign up one million new cards in the next two years

• A mobile alert service
• Insurance against ATM muggings
• Full card fraud protection
• Emergency cash service
• Secure e-commerce transacting

• BBVA’s benefit race (the ‘Carrera Popular Solidaria BBVA’) will be held on November 1 in Madrid, and the bank's employees and customers, as well as the public at large, are invited. Those who do not wish to run can still participate by contributing a fee.
• The registration fee is €5, and BBVA will match the total amount raised
• 7,000 people have already signed up to participate in the race, which guarantees a minimum contribution of €70,000
• This BBVA project falls under the aegis of an agreement with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), in which it undertakes to finance the primary education of a group of child refugees in Dadaab, Kenya
• The Madrid town council is actively helping organize BBVA’s benefit race, as is Jesús Vázquez, UNHCR Ambassador and the face of the event