The first messages on social media, the promise to friends to "do everything to return soon." The phone exchange with Antonio Tajani, who feels he's "combative" and echoes the exhortation to "help the Cuban people." Alessandro Di Battista survived his first night in the Havana hospital, where he was transported after being initially admitted in serious condition to Santa Clara following severe headaches. His condition remains serious, according to the limited information filtering out of Cuba, and currently does not allow the former Five Star Movement MP to be transferred on the state medical flight provided by the government. Along with local doctors, two specialists from the Gemelli Hospital, arriving from Rome, will evaluate him in the next few hours.

Before being transported by ambulance to the capital yesterday—where his partner, Sahra Lahouasnia, is expected within hours— Di Battista, 48, a father of two, regained consciousness after having lost it for several hours. During his first hours in the hospital, he underwent a series of specialist tests—including a CT scan—necessary to determine his diagnosis and prognosis. Then, in the early hours of his stay in Italy, from a room on the 19th floor of the Hermanos Ameijeiras hospital, he responded to some of the avalanche of encouraging messages dedicated to him on social media. "I'll do my best to return soon," he wrote to Ilaria Loquenzi, a communications specialist and former member of the Five Star Movement staff, who urged him to "not give up" and return "to see the stars again."

The message from Gino Sorbillo, a well-known Neapolitan pizza chef, was full of four-leaf clovers and hearts. "I need it," Di Battista replied, promising, "I'll come see you soon," accompanied by a photo of a tray with a plate of chicken and rice, likely his hospital meal. The Five Star Movement community is apprehensive; for the past 24 hours, Giuseppe Conte has been engaged in a triangulation between the former MP's family and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From Giorgia Meloni on down, the government is closely monitoring developments, primarily through Simona De Martino, the ambassador to Cuba.

And within the government, there is displeasure over the controversy, particularly on social media, following the news of the state flight being made available. Antonio Tajani called Di Battista and found him "combative in tone, yet not weakened in morale despite the complicated situation." The Foreign Minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, expressed his solidarity with the former parliamentarian, assuring him that the government will do "everything necessary for him, as it should for every Italian citizen in similar circumstances," and wishing him a quick return to Rome. The Deputy Prime Minister, recalling his past as a journalist, asked him what he was focusing on in his reporting on Cuba. Di Battista spoke at length about the island and its complicated conditions, emphasizing the need to help the Cuban people. The phone call concluded with Tajani expressing his hope to see him again soon, "to return to arguing about everything except solidarity between Italians and the paths to peace we must build."

(Unioneonline)

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