Dr. Pardway

In La Habanera, I find it interesting that Sven Nagel, doctor extraordinaire from Sweden, is able to create a cure for the Puerto Rico Fever in his hotel room within a week of arriving. This impressive display of Sven's scientific prowess is especially striking because eight years earlier, the Americans tried the very same thing, but failed, and in the years since, the Puerto Rican doctors have been trying [to no avail] to also  discover the cure. This instance struck me as one of the most blatantly propagandistic moments in La Habanera, but it is not without complication. Dr. Nagel is portrayed as a benevolent scientist who is working for a hostile audience- he is working out of the goodness within him, supposedly, but we are soon to realise that his true motive for going to Puerto Rico is not to help the general population [which he does,] but rather, to chase his old girlfriend. Curing the fever comes across as an afterthought.
Another curiosity that arises around the fever and said cure is that although Dr. Pardway officially denies the existence of the fever altogether, and works earnestly to impede Sven's progress, he is the only one who  ends up using any of the research for the good of Puerto Rico. His study of Sven's notes while breaking into his apartment, [in order to eventually arrest both Nagel and Gomez] is the only fruit of the entire labour seen, because both Nagel and Gomez leave the country without returning to their studies, or resynthesizing a cure. [The cure is secondary, very obviously, because once Sven has secured the girl, he leaves the country.]

Dr. Pardway is the pragmatic hero of Puerto Rico, he knows his place and follows his leader, because he knows Pedro de Avila to care for the greater good of the people. Moreover, he takes advantage of an opportunity to help his patients. He is motivated by nationalism and cares greatly for his countrymen. He is the only character who really does anything concrete to actually help the people [discounting, of course, the intentions of Dr.s Nagel and Gomez.]