HAVANA– His novels chronicle horrific murders, robberies, fraud, bribes and humiliating secrets. But these are not even the most important themes in the stories told by award-winning Cuban writer Leonardo Padura.
Over the last four decades, Padura, 68, has managed to transform his series of crime thrillers into a social and political chronicle of Cuba, especially Havana, where he lived his entire life.
The island he describes in his books – which have been translated into dozens of languages – is a mix of economic deprivation, Afro-descendant syncretism, corruption, mischief, uplifting music and growing inequality – all tempered by a revolution that marked the 20th century.
“I write about the problems of individuals in Cuban society. And often in my books, more than just dramatic conflicts between the characters, you’ll find a social conflict between the characters and their historical time,” Padura told The Associated Press in a recent interview at his home in Mantilla, the populous neighborhood of Havana where he was born, raised and married.
The smell of freshly brewed coffee is in the air, as is the chirping of the birds that inhabit the courtyard where their dogs are buried. In a nearby studio, his wife, screenwriter Lucía López Coll, works on a computer.
It is also in this house that Mário Conde, the main character of Padura’s work, was born. The downtrodden, nostalgic, chain-smoking detective has been with Padura since 1991, when “Past Perfect” – the first in the “Havana Quartet” series with Conde as the main protagonist – was published.
Following Detective Conde is almost like taking the pulse of Cuba in recent years.
His last appearance was in the soap opera “Personas Decentes”, from 2020, in which, already over 60 years old, Conde becomes involved in the investigation of a case of homicide — and corruption — against the backdrop of the historic 2016 visit to his ex -US President Barack Obama and the Rolling Stones to the island.
“This character comes from a neighborhood similar to mine,” says Padura about Conde. “He is a man of my generation. … His view of reality has evolved because I have evolved, and his feeling of disenchantment has a lot to do with the way we have been living all these years.”
Reflecting on Cuba’s situation following the tightening of US sanctions during President Donald Trump’s administration and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Padura says that the island has barely managed to emerge from the crisis and has not yet managed to recover.
He points to the lack of food and medicine, rising prices and the deterioration of health and education systems, while Cubans face fuel shortages and constant blackouts.
“There is historical fatigue,” he says. “People are tired, they have no alternatives and they are looking to emigrate.”
The soft-spoken chronicler also highlights another impact of the ongoing economic crisis in Cuba: a wave of protests and popular demonstrations that have not been seen for decades.
“The main outcry was for food and electricity,” recalls Padura about the protests in 2021 and, more recently, in March. “But people were also shouting ‘Freedom!’ The lack of food and electricity could have been solved by repairing some thermoelectric plants and with some rice and sugar… but the other thing was not talked about – and I think it is something that should be discussed in depth.”
Born in 1955, Leonardo de la Caridad Padura Fuentes studied literature at the University of Havana and worked as a journalist for state media outlets in the 1980s.
He has won several important awards, including the Hammett Award, given by the International Association of Crime Writers, on two occasions (1998 and 2006); Cuban National Literature Prize in 2012, and Princess of Asturias Prize for literature in Spain in 2015.
In 2016, Netflix released “Quatro Estações em Havana”, a miniseries with detective Conde.
Despite international recognition, only a few of Padura’s books have been published in Cuba and, when they are, only a few copies are printed. Furthermore, due to his critical and sometimes dark view of the island, his work is hardly publicized or mentioned in official media.
Unlike many writers and intellectuals who in recent years have decided to leave Cuba, Padura – who travels a lot – is determined to stay.
“I have many reasons to live outside of Cuba, but I think those that keep me here are more important. One of them is my sense of belonging,” she says. “I have a strong feeling of belonging to a reality, a culture, a way of seeing life, a way of expressing myself”.
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