Last fall, Eusebio Leal, Havana’s celebrated historian and architectural preservationist, made a well-received presentation to the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce. It underscored the new normal evolving between Cuba and the U.S. It also highlighted Leal’s increasing prominence in speaking for Havana’s ambitious restoration plans–including repurposing and multi-use–and the role of profits from tourism, notably from America, that will help facilitate Old Havana restoration.
Ten months later, Leal no longer has autonomy. His Office of the Historian of Havana has been absorbed by Division General Leonardo Ramón Andollo Valdés of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR). According to FAR, the move against Leal’s market-friendly “empire” will result in “greater efficiencies.”
Indeed, change is never easy.