The agenda had been agreed with Ms Teba Castaño, the assigned assessor. The opening and closing sessions were carried out in UNESCO's Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean, which is located in Havana. Over the intervening days meetings were held with the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana (OHCH) and there was also an inspection of the restoration works being carried out in the Palace, which are now in their third year.
During these days, representatives of UNESCO and the OHCH accompanied Ms Castaño and provided her with the documentation and information necessary for her to carry out her role thoroughly, and also to enable her to understand the development of the project, not just in relation to the restoration of the site but also by reference to its future use as a place for cultural exchanges between Cuba and Europe.
During the discussion of preliminary conclusions, which was also attended by the European Union's representative for the project, Ms Castaño emphasised the transparency and the magnitude of the monitoring initiative, and the good level of mutual understanding between the parties involved. Next month the final conclusions will be communicated to the institutions. From those final conclusions it will be possible to extract recommendations and possible improvements for the project, as well as its good features which should be maintained.
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