CubaTrade-April2017-FLIPBOOK

When it comes to doing business with Cuba,
Puerto Rico offers powerful advantages
By Alex Díaz
Sitting on the corner of Obrapía and Aguiar in Old Havana
since 1693, Oratorio San Felipe de Neri looks like any of
the hundreds of churches in colonial towns and capitals
across Latin America.
San Felipe, however, has a unique heritage. It was built as an
oratory church, so it wasn’t a typical place of worship. The founding
Oratory Congregation, while led by a bishop, featured secular
priests who used music prominently in Mass, much like gospel
services in American black churches.
When municipal authorities decided to turn San Felipe into
a concert hall as part of a 1990s renovation, most Cubans took it
in stride. It made historical sense. After all, the church still carries
the word Oratorio in its name.
At about that time César Cordero began a series of trips
to Cuba. The Puerto Rican engineer and entrepreneur—then a
professor at the University of Puerto Rico—was a member of
Andares Antillanos (roughly translated as Antillean Journeys), a
group of volunteers who promoted regional art and culture.
Cordero’s group discovered and began working on cultural
exchanges with San Felipe, culminating in the early 2000s with
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80 CUBATRADE APRIL 2017