Madrid/“Very sad news for Cuba the death of the beloved fellow Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, an exemplary man who dedicated his entire life to the revolution.” In this way, through his X account, the president gave the news Miguel Díaz-Canel of the death of the former minister – and current Vice Minister of Foreign Trade. At the same time, he said goodbye: “Our felt condolences and a big hug in this difficult time come to their family and friends.”
Neither the official press nor the page of the Ministry of which was the almighty holder have yet given the information, but the website of the Communist Party of Cuba did, mentioning that “victim of a painful disease” died – euphemism for cancer – at 88 years. In recent images, the face deformed by some kind of tumor can be seen.
The government did not refer to any condition when, In May 2024“He released Ricardo Cabrisas from his responsibilities as Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment” to degrade him to Vice Minister. The man who passed the hat throughout the world to attract investments, condon debts or ask for donations then left the scene.
He managed the Office of Foreign Trade during the rise and fall of the Soviet subsidy, and spun finely in office in the special period
Since then, their appearances and trips were limited. Of stony expression and a bullet -proof fidelity towards the so -called historical generation of Cuban power, his discretion and little charisma allowed him to sneak into the royal palaces, the chancellors and business halls of much of the world.
As this newspaper highlighted when one of the 14 faces of the year 2023Cabrisas was the one who took the negotiator’s baton after the death of Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, who had monopolized until then, for the Gaesa conglomerate, foreign investments in Cuba.
He handled the Office of Foreign Trade during the rise and fall of the Soviet subsidy, and spun fine in the position in the special period, in the 90s. Unconditional of Fidel Castro and survivor of several waves of dismissals, seemed to be exit from politics when, at 86, he recovered his former ministry.
He was the man who needed Havana to talk with Moscow and grease the dialogue with more severe creditors, such as the Paris club. Sibilino, little given to smile, avoided prominence and signed multiple treaties.
Cabrisas had popularized in the official press, to describe his achievements, the term “memorandum of understanding.” And that phrase is, perhaps, the one that determined its favorite pose in the images, more powerful than any greeting or smile: the paper, stored in a red velvet folder, which guaranteed that the regime would endure a little more.
