President Santa J. Ono welcomed Benitez and presented him with the Wallenberg Medal. Ono praised Benitez’s courageous fight for workers’ rights, and said he is an inspiration “for us to not close our eyes to injustice, intimidation and inhumanity.”
“I am immeasurably honored and humbled to receive the Wallenberg Medal in recognition of our efforts to forge a new paradigm for the protection of fundamental human rights from the fields to factories around the globe."