Fernando Ravsberg

When in Cuba people talk about the bureaucracy we always think of powerful officials that make our life miserable creating increasingly complex procedures to justify their wages and privileges, office, auto, gasoline, etc, etc, etc.

When our children left home it was as if the sky had fallen; my wife and I fell in what is known as the “empty nest syndrome”. Suddenly we were without our main occupation; educate this pair of boys who gave us life.

The two countries are ending a hard phase of bilateral confrontation and enter a new one more advantageous for the Cuban nation. Nonetheless, the next stage will require much political ability to “de-escalate” the conflict with the US, without losing the sovereignty obtained.

This past weekend I was at the Comodoro Hotel in Havana’s Playa municipality, which was full of tourists. However, the elevator didn’t work, the remote controls for the room TVs were “lost” and there wasn’t a drop of water to bathe or flush the toilet.

Cardinal Jaime Ortega is retiring, but he leaves the Cuban nation with very useful lessons in what we could call “dialogue building.” One must acknowledge that he designed bridges capable of withstanding the weight of the mutual mistrust that has existed between the Catholic clergy, the Cuban government and Washington.