Acknowledgments
I am deeply grateful to all who contributed to this book.
First and foremost, I must mention my father Kjell Underlid (1950–2016)—with whom I discussed the original idea at length—you are greatly missed.
I am indebted to my Ph.D. tutor María Álvarez-Solar and co-tutor José Bell Lara, and my assistant on the project, Raynier Hernández Arencibia.
I am also highly grateful to the people at the Institute of Foreign Languages at the University of Bergen: Åse Johnsen, Synnøve Ones Rosales, Hans Jacob Ohldieck, Kari Soriano Salkjelsvik, Jon Askeland, Roxana Sobrino, Håkon Tveit, Andrea Rinaldi, and many others. Furthermore, I would like to thank the staff at FLACSO in Havana that offered great moral and practical support, especially my professors Delia Luisa López and María del Carmen Zabala.
I would like to acknowledge Ann Cathrin Corrales-Øverlid and Veronica Øverlid, both of whom offered first-class help with the translation. Series editor Ricardo Alan Dello Buono has guided me through the publication process in the best possible way.
Clearly, this book would not have been possible without the participation of my informants in Cuba, but also the staff workers of the archives, and so many other Cubans that I have met over the years, in Cienfuegos, Havana and other places. I am very much thankful to Tania (she will be forever missed), Euclides, Marta and Luis.
The warmest of thanks also to my relatives and friends in Norway, both in the beautiful city of Bergen and the beautiful island of Karmøy. Thanks to Tone, Heidi, Vigdis and family, and to Inger and Ragnar. To Marcos, Alex Z., Katrine, Anders, Fredrik, Jonas, Baste, Adilson, Marco Antonio, Margrethe, and all others for friendship, food, assistance and rewarding discussions. I know that I have been a most distracted and asocial person at times.
Finally, a most sincere expression of gratitude goes to my wife Karen who helped make this possible through her love and support. I dedicate this book to her, and to our young son Kjell Ragnar, whom I hope to introduce to Cuba sometime after the annus horribilis of 2020.