CUBA
Ex-Castro ally a sensual painter
A former Cabinet member in the Castro regime is now an artist, and
several of his paintings are making their way to Miami.
BY WILFREDO CANCIO ISLA
wcancio@elnuevoherald.com
Cuba's former foreign minister, Roberto Robaina, removed from the
political scene in 1999, has found a new line of work: a painter of
sensual nudes and bucolic landscapes.
Robaina's paintings are on display at the Alovera Gallery in
Guadalajara, Spain, where they sell for as much as $3,000. For the past
two years, they have circulated quietly in Miami, where the
diplomat-turned-painter has tried to sell them.
Robaina became a key player in the government's hierarchy in 1993 when
Fidel Castro appointed him foreign minister in recognition of his
accomplishments at the head of the Young Communists Union.
But his political star burned out six years later for alleged
''disloyalty'' to his superiors, ethical lapses and shady financial
deals, even though no criminal charges were filed.
Sentenced to ostracism, the man who at one time was mentioned as
Castro's successor seems intent today -- at age 56 -- on reinventing
himself as an artist and making his living by selling his paintings.
Beginning in mid-2004, several of his oil paintings arrived in Miami
through the efforts of friends and colleagues who attempted to show them
in local galleries. The idea of exhibiting Robaina's works did not
prosper, but some paintings landed in the hands of private collectors.
Numerous attempts by El Nuevo Herald to reach Robaina in Havana via
telephone were unsuccessful.
Cuban journalist and entrepreneur Roberto Cavada, who settled in the
Dominican Republic in 2000, is one of the promoters of the former
minister's paintings. In November 2004, he sent to Miami three
medium-size pictures to sell for Robaina.
''I really did not enter into a contract to represent [Robaina],'' he
told El Nuevo Herald. ``I have been his personal friend for many years
and even helped him to accomplish his work, but not as a gallery owner
or for commercial purposes.''
Before settling in the Dominican Republic, Cavada had a successful
career in Cuba as a radio journalist. In 1997, he played the part of
Fidel Castro in the movie Che by Cuban filmmaker Miguel Torres. In 2002,
he founded Hierba Buena Productions, which organizes the appearances of
Cuban and other artists in the Dominican Republic.
But Cavada insisted that the company was not involved in the
transportation of Robaina's paintings to Miami: ``The company had
nothing to do with that. These were three of my own paintings that I
proposed sending to Miami. In fact, I have no more works by him because
I've been unable to bring any from Cuba.''
Cavada said he has asked a friend in Miami to find buyers and gallery
owners who might be interested in Robaina's works.
However, everything indicates that the three paintings from the
Dominican Republic were not the only ones that circulated in South
Florida. Ramón Cernuda, director of Cernuda Arte in Coral Gables, said
that in late 2004 or early 2005, two people tried to talk him into
representing Robaina's works in the United States.
`CAREFUL ANALYSIS'
''After a careful analysis, I concluded that the art was not fully
developed and has no major transcendence, other than the notoriety of
the person who created it,'' Cernuda said. ``They are the works of an
amateur.''
Cernuda recalls that he was first approached by a promoter from
Santiago, Chile. Later, he was visited by a television producer who was
accompanied by Joe García, then executive director of the Cuban American
National Foundation, CANF.
García told El Nuevo Herald that he didn't know Robaina's works were in
the gallery: ``My presence at the gallery was for the purpose of taking
a friend who did not know Cernuda and had asked me to introduce him.''
Roberto Ramos, director of the Cuban Masters Collection in Miami, also
rejected a proposal to exhibit and sell Robaina's paintings.
''He does not appear to me to be an artistically valid painter, and I am
not interested in what he paints,'' Ramos said. ``He is a painter with a
political name, and no serious collector will be convinced that that's
important.''
Despite the aesthetic objections, Robaina has managed to pique the
curiosity of local collectors. El Nuevo Herald identified at least four
residents of Miami-Dade and Broward counties who bought his paintings.
Two of them were contacted by reporters but declined to comment, asking
that their privacy be respected.
The purchase of Cuban art is permitted by U.S. law, as long as the
transactions are duly registered. A spokesman for the Alovera Gallery
said the company is pleased by the public interest generated by
Robaina's paintings and gratified by the sales. ''The works are of good
quality and have sold well,'' said Julio Antonio Flechilla, a commercial
specialist for Alovera. ``Without a doubt, the man has an inner artist.''
The gallery is interested in selling Robaina's paintings for their
artistic value, without stressing their political connotation, Flechilla
said. Alovera has a vast collection of Cuban paintings; its catalog
features works by more than 60 contemporary Cuban artists.
''We are treating [Robaina] as an artist and would like to have
exclusivity for the future commercialization of his works,'' said the
specialist, adding that the former minister is a prolific painter. The
gallery expects to receive more of Robaina's paintings in the next
several days, Flechilla said.
It is believed that until signing a contract with Alovera, Robaina had
made about 80 paintings, among them several series that showed female
torsos, roosters, horses and religious motifs.
REGISTERED ARTIST
In 2004, Robaina registered with the Cuban Fund of Cultural Property, an
institution that represents and commercializes the works of Cuban artists.
In September 2005, an article in the Mexican newspaper La Crónica de Hoy
written by Cuban journalist Rubén Cortez reported the newly acquired
talent of the former youth leader.
''Today, Robaina is a painter,'' Cortez wrote. 'He shares a studio with
artist Silvio Martínez in Pinar del Río. He walks through the Villamil
barrio wearing a T-shirt and jeans cut off at mid-thigh. He paints
pictures of flowers in brilliant colors and signs them `Robertico.' He
looks like a man who is happy and at peace.''
After the political scandal in 1999, Robaina was booted from the
Communist Party and the Cuban parliament, but the details were not made
public until 2002.
In a May 2002 video, shown to more than 80,000 communist militants
nationwide, Gen. Raúl Castro showed Robaina saying: ``I am not going to
allow people like you to f--- this revolution three months after we of
the old guard disappear.''
Raúl Castro accused Robaina of promoting himself as the top candidate in
a future political transition after a telephone conversation between
Robaina and Abel Matutes, then foreign minister of Spain, in April 1998
became public.
Robaina worked in the rebuilding of Havana's Almendares Park in Havana
and promoted ecological projects before embracing the art of painting.
Interviewed by CNN in Havana in August 2002, Robaina said: ``I consider
myself a revolutionary who is willing to demonstrate with his attitude
and his work that trust can be regained.''
El Nuevo Herald staff writer Helena Poleo contributed to this article.
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