Offshore Vegas: How the Mob
Brought Revolution to Cuba

By Peter Russo

Most people have heard of Fidel Castro, but what was Cuba like before Castro? Who was Fulgencio Batista? How did he gain control of the country and why did he need to be replaced? What created the conditions under which someone like Castro was able to gain ? and maintain the support of the people?

This book offers a surprising answer: The mob.

Inside this book, you will discover how Batista's friendship with Meyer Lansky allowed the Mafia to become dollar for dollar partners with the Cuban government in the casino hotel industry. This industry came to dominate the Cuban economy in the 1950's, and sowed the seeds of revolution.

Finally, you will learn what life was like for Cubans who lived through these times as they explain in their own words how events caused them to either flee ? or join the revolution.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Apr 25, 2007
• ISBN: 9780595836529

Peter Russo

Peter D. Russo traveled to Cuba in 2001, where he experienced Cuban history firsthand. He has conducted many interviews with people who lived in Cuba in the 1950?s, and several of the interviews are part of this book. Mr. Russo has been a lifelong student of the mob?s influence on legitimate government and business. He lives in New Jersey where he runs his own law office. This is his first book. John H. Esperian also traveled to Cuba in 2001, and again in 2003 where he continued research for this book. Mr. Esperian is a professor of English at the Community College of Southern Nevada. He lives in Las Vegas with his wife, and has published several articles locally concerning the subject matter of this book.

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Copyright © 2007 by Peter D. Russo and John H. Esperian

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ISBN: 978-0-595-39257-5 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-0-595-83652-9 (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

Mr. Russo would like to thank his family and everyone who contributed to this book. He would also like to thank Kenneth Holtzman, who taught him how to turn four pages of incoherence into one excellent page.

Mr. Esperian would like to thank the following for their valued help, continued support and encouragement: The Community College of Southern Nevada, Dean Carlos Campo, Dr. Alisse Waterston, Professors Carmen Annillo and Robert Fuhrel, student Kim Rondeau and last but not least, Brigitte Esperian

When they (revolutionaries) saw the tourists treat the island as a good time girl, not proud but compliant, they were ashamed, and shame … is a revolutionary sentiment

—Jean Paul Sarte, Sarte on Cuba, 1961

We have now what we have always needed: real partnership with a government

—Hyman Roth, The Godfather, Part II

Contents

Introduction

1 Cuba’s Story

2 The Rise of Fulgencio Batista

3 The Mob Moves In

4 The Rise of a Gambling Empire

5 Fidel

6 In Their Own Words

7 By the Numbers: Other causes of the Cuban Revolution

8 The Straight Line between Las Vegas and Havana

APPENDIX A

APPENDIX B

Significant Events in Pre-Revolutionary Cuba, 1929—59

Bibliography

Introduction

Cuba. It is a place that means many things to many people. Its very mention evokes so many different emotions that we don’t know where to begin. You only need only to read a newspaper or watch the news on television. It seems that every other day there is a story about Cuba, Cuban Americans, the US embargo, or even the alleged terrorists being held at our base in Guantanamo.

Today, there is even more focus on Cuba as Fidel Castro’s health declines and the world waits to see who and what will replace him. Never has such a relatively small country continued to command our attention for so long. When our country was young, we considered invading Cuba and making it a state. At the dawn of the 20th Century, we went to war with Spain to control Cuba and our own shores. In 1962, we almost went to war with the Soviet Union over nuclear missiles placed in Cuba. President George W. Bush might not even have become president if not for the Cuban vote in Florida in 2000. Cuba’s influence on America and the world has been vast.

How did Cuba become so important? How did it become the place that it is now? Fidel Castro’s activities over the past 47 years have been well documented, but what was Cuba like before Fidel Castro? Who was Fulgencio Batista? How did he gain control of the country and why did he need to be replaced? What was it really like for Cubans before the revolution? Most importantly, what helped to create conditions under which someone like Castro was able to gain—and maintain—the support of the people? This study offers a surprising answer: The mob.

There have been many books, journals and articles written about Cuba and the revolution. Most people realize that the mob operated in Cuba in the 1950’s, but most people don’t realize the extent of the mob’s influence. Batista and the Cuban government didn’t just allow the mob to operate, they were partners. Many factors contributed to Fidel Castro’s success, but the mob’s influence should not be underestimated. Many political ideas helped shape the revolution, but the mob’s influence was a tangible thing that those in Cuba, particularly in Havana could see and hear every day.

As you read, you will learn about Cuba’s history as a nation. You will read about what life was like in Cuba in the 1950’s. You will learn that one of the many things that made Cuba ripe for revolution was organized crime—how the mob made Cuba’s president a partner in their gambling enterprise. Finally, you will learn about how Havana was going to be the new and improved Las Vegas—and how it still may become just that in the future.

1

Cuba’s Story

When Christopher Columbus saw Cuba for the first time, he wrote in his diary that the land he saw was the most lovely that eyes had ever seen. Once the new world was discovered, the nations of Europe financed many expeditions to the new world to extract its material wealth. Since Columbus sailed for Spain, it was that country that controlled Cuba and its resources. The conquest of Cuba was swift and ruthless. Many of the Indians there were massacred; even more died from infectious diseases introduced by the Europeans for which the natives had no defenses. While there were many Indians when Columbus first landed, by the middle of the 1500’s, there were less than four thousand. They had disappeared, killed by disease, malnutrition, and overwork in the fields and mines. Entire villages were known to have committed suicide rather than work in the mines.

Over the next hundred years, the port of Havana became important because of Cuba’s location. By far the largest island in the Caribbean, Cuba dominates the approaches to both that sea and the Gulf of Mexico. With a large harbor, Havana became the prime stopping off point for Spanish flotillas laden with treasure from other parts of the new world. During this time, blacks were imported from Africa to replace the Indians, and slave rebellions were frequent due to the harsh working conditions. Despite this, the slave trade boomed, because of the riches of the Cuban soil. Timber, tobacco and sugar became huge industries on the island, and thousands of slaves were brought there to do the work.

The next significant benchmark in Cuba’s history occurred in 1762, during the Seven Years War which allied France and Spain against England. By this time, Havana was the 3rd largest city in the New World, with more people than either New York or Boston. In a decisive battle, the English captured Havana, and for the first time since 1492, Cuba was not under Spanish control. Britain’s occupation of Havana, however, would be brief. The troubles that would lead to the American Revolution began about this time, and preoccupied with the much larger colonies to the north, England relinquished control of Cuba to Spain less than a year after capturing her. It was the first time outside