Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba

by Gjelten, Tom

  P. 132. At the same time, Pepín: “New Liquor Tax Law Is Signed by Winship,” New York Times, May 17, 1937.

  P. 132. “I shall consider my: Gallo.

  P. 132. He also claimed: “New Liquor Tax Law.”

  P. 133. “to elevate the moral level: Newspaper ad in El Mundo (San Juan, PR) (among others), February 4, 1937.

  P. 134. “more than 200 workers: Flyer distributed by El Comité-Ejecutivo de la Unión de Obreros y Empleados de la Empresa “Bacardi,” April 27, 1939, Bacardi archives.

  P. 134. The company quickly responded: Bacardi legal department, “Informe, en relación a la carta cursada por la Sucursal Bacardi de la Ciudad de la Habana, el día 10 de Mayo del presente año 1939,” Bacardi archives.

  P. 134. Union leaders labeled: Union flyers in Bacardi archives.

  P. 134. “not only because of the: Draft of Bacardi letter to Secretary of Labor, undated, Bacardi archives.

  P. 135. Tensions rose sharply: Union charges and company responses quoted in “There Are Still Judges in Cuba!” paid Bacardi advertisement, Havana Post, October 6, 1943.

  P. 135. Management officials were: “Government of Cuba Seizes Bacardi Plant,” Washington Post, October 7, 1943.

  P. 136. A dinner held in his honor: “Santiago de Cuba honra a Enrique Schueg,” Carteles, February 6, 1944.

  P. 136. But Luis and Espín had both: Foster, 62.

  P. 137. When Espín and Luis: Ibid., 61-62.

  P. 137. In the midst of the 1943: Text of speech by Guillermo G. Mármol in honor of Pepín Bosch, November 21, 1993, Miami, Florida.

  P. 137. In the coming years, he showed up: Guillermo G. Mármol, letter to author, faxed October 23, 2005.

  P. 139. “Dear Danielito: Emilio Bacardi Lay to Daniel Bacardi, December 9, 1943, Bacardi archives.

  P. 140. Daniel said he was sure: Daniel Bacardi to Emilio Bacardi Lay, February 9, 1944, Bacardi archives.

  P. 141. His lawyer and aide: Mármol letter to author, October 23, 2005.

  P. 141. The business world: Elbert Hubbard, A Message to García (New York: Roycrofters, 1899).

  P. 142. “an American imitation: “Liquor in America: An Interim Audit,” Fortune, October 1934, 108.

  P. 142. “It would be my suggestion: Memorandum from José M. Bosch to Enrique Schueg, October 24, 1945, Bacardi archives.

  P. 142. The yacht captain was killed: Foster, 64.

  P. 142. By the end of 1946: The U.S. Rum Market (New York: Rums of Puerto Rico, 1953), 5.

  P. 142. By 1948, Bacardi rum sales: “Beating the Yanqui at His Own Game . . . ,” Liquor Survey, Research and Marketing Department, New York Journal-American, March 1948.

  P. 143. Company advertising in the early: “Bacardi Bar Book,” cocktail recipe booklet produced by Schenley Import Corporation, 1940.

  Chapter 11. Cuba Corrupted

  P. 144. “When I got to the: Gosch and Hammer, 305.

  P. 144. His longtime associate: Ibid., 269.

  P. 145. For five days, the capos: Cirules, 38.

  P. 146. “Lansky and Batista: Gosch and Hammer, 284.

  P. 147. calling him guajiro: Castro schoolmate Alfredo “Chino” Esquivel, interviewed by Adriana Bosch for 2004 PBS documentary film, Fidel Castro; see also Pardo Llada, 19.

  P. 147. “I arrived at the university: Ramonet, 106.

  P. 147. “I never went to classes: Ibid., 108.

  P. 147. He made his big public: El Mundo (Havana), November 28, 1946.

  P. 148. “That was when my: Ramonet, 109.

  P. 148. According to an eyewitness: Alfredo Esquivel, PBS interview. The story is also reported in Geyer, 50 -51; Bardach, 239; and Montaner, 14.

  P. 149. “It was difficult to dislike: Thomas, 760.

  P. 149. “a scandalous bacchanalia: Ibid., 767.

  P. 150. “I told him I was: The Prío-Bosch discussion comes from Miguel Gonzalez-Pando’s interview of Pepín Bosch, September 1990, video recording in Cuban Living History Project, Florida International University.

  P. 150. “the naming of the dynamic: “Dynamic Pepín Bosch Hopes to Put Nation on ‘Business Basis,’ ” Havana Post, January 15, 1950.

  P. 151. “no political ambitions: Typewritten text of remarks, Bacardi archives.

  P. 151. So many friends, family: “Será respetado quien cumpla con su deber.” El Mundo (Havana), January 10, 1950.

  P. 151. “I was an aide: Ibid.

  P. 151. “I’m a working businessman: “Daré protección a todos los productores de Cuba,” Diario de la Marina (Havana), January 5, 1950.

  P. 151. “Dodging taxes: “J. P. McEvoy Observes,” Havana Post, April 8, 1951.

  P. 152. “Everyone will pay: “An Honest Man,” Time, March 19, 1951.

  P. 152. “I don’t want to be: “Yo sólo aspiro a irme a mi casa,” Carteles, October 22, 1950.

  P. 153. “realized that as the: “An Honest Man,” Time, March 19, 1951.

  Chapter 12. Cha-Cha-Chá

  P. 155. (fn) A 1999 dictionary: José Sánchez-Boudy, Diccionario Mayor de Cubanismos (Miami: Ediciones Universal, 1999), 637.

  P. 156. “The foreign visitor: Herminio Portell Vilá, “Futilidad de la ley,” El Mundo (Havana), June 20, 1952.

  P. 157. On the eightieth: Foster, 72.

  P. 157. Titled “Bacardi: “Bacardi, La Gran Industria Cubana,” in Otero, ed., Libro de Cuba, 755-58.

  P. 157. The Cuban ballerina: “The Imperious Vision of Cuba’s Other Ruler-for-Life,” New York Times, February 6, 2005.

  P. 157. The rum company had sponsored baseball: González Echevarría, 101.

  P. 158. The most popular Cuban: “Mensaje de Roberto Ortiz,” Bacardi Gráfico 3, no. 11 (October 1958), 4.

  P. 158. a “danceable program: Radio scripts in Bacardi archives.

  P. 159. Family members were fond of: José “Tito” Argamasilla, interview by author, January 13, 2006, Miami.

  P. 160. The plan was to lead: The account of the Moncada attack is from Szulc, 255-81; Thomas, 824-44; and Castro’s own recollections in Ramonet, 117-46.

  P. 161. “We could hear and feel: Vilma Espín, interview by Tad Szulc, May 15, 1985, Havana transcript, Tad Szulc Papers, John F. Kennedy Library, Boston, Massachusetts.

  P. 162. “If this was something: Pepín Bosch, in videotaped interview by Miguel Gonzalez-Pando, September 1990, video recording in Cuban Living History Project, Florida International University; see also Pepín Bosch, interview by Georgie Anne Geyer, January 17, 1985, Miami, Florida, transcript, Georgie Anne Geyer Papers, Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford, CA.

  P. 162. One of Grau’s most enduring: The account of Grau and Fidel on Pan de Guajaibón is based on the author’s interviews with Juan Grau, June 1, 2004, and Father Armando Llorente, June 30, 2005, both in Miami. Portions of the story are recounted in Latell, 70 -72; Szulc, 120 -21; and Blanco, 205-6.

  P. 164. “I do not fear prison: Castro Ruz, “History Will Absolve Me.”

  P. 164. (fn) Castro carefully studied: See Geyer, 37-38.

  P. 164. quietly arranged to cover: Bosch interview by Geyer; Bosch interview by Gonzalez-Pando.

  P. 165. On one occasion: Guillermo Mármol, interview by the author, January 12, 2006, Miami.

  P. 165. Daniel Bacardi’s chauffeur: The kidnapping story is laid out in detail in Juan Amador Rodríguez, “Doce horas de angustía: El secuestro de Facundito Bacardi,” Bohemia (Havana) 46, no. 9 (February 28, 1954) 74-81.

  P. 167. “Do you plan to stay: Carlos Franqui, “Una entrevista con Fidel Castro,” Carteles (Havana), May 22, 1955.

  P. 167. In 1965 he told: Szulc, 207.

  P. 167. “Show much guile: Thomas, 853-54.

  Chapter 13. A Brief Golden Age

  P. 168. “He had drunk double frozen: Ernest Hemingway, Islands in the Stream (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1970), 211.

  P. 168. he mentioned Bacardi products: Hemingway mentions Hatuey beer in To Have and Have Not (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1937), 30, and in The Old Man and the Sea (Ne
w York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1952), 22.

  P. 169. The event was held: The Bacardi reception for Hemingway is described in detail by Guillermo Cabrera Infante in “El viejo y la marca,” Ciclón 2, no. 5, (September 1956); in Fuentes, 28-30; Heufelder, 253-55; and in contemporary Havana newspapers.

  P. 170. At Lansky’s urging: Accounts of Mafia ties to gambling in Cuba are from Ernest Have mann, “U.S. Gambling Mob in Cuba,” Life, March 10, 1958, 28-37; see also, Lowinger and Fox.

  P. 170. 87 percent: Louis A. Pérez Jr., Cuba: Between Reform and Revolution, 302.

  P. 171. Grau urged Vilma to: Juan Grau, interview by the author, June 1, 2004, Miami.

  P. 171. “I couldn’t put it down: Vilma Espín, interview by Tad Szulc, May 15, 1985, Havana, Cuba. Tad Szulc Papers, Series 1, Box 1. John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library, Boston, MA.

  P. 172. “She had been somewhat: Grau, interview by the author, June 1, 2004.

  P. 172. With U.S. funding: Thomas, 855.

  P. 172. Vice President Richard Nixon: Szulc, 319, Schlesinger, 173.

  P. 172. “I’m glad Ambassador: Phillips, 325.

  P. 173. “With a Head Held: Bacardi advertisement from company archives.

  P. 174. A World Bank team: Truslow, 779-83.

  P. 175. “After detailed investigation: Truslow, 979.

  P. 175. When a Bacardi executive: Urbano Real to Compañía Ron Bacardi, December 31, 1949, Bacardi archives.

  P. 175. “With a little good fortune: José Bosch to Manuel Andrial, June 17, 1949, Bacardi archives.

  P. 175. “Pepín Bosch never misses: Gente (Havana), May 8, 1956.

  P. 176. “You know everybody: José “Tito” Argamasilla, interview by the author, January 13, 2006, Miami.

  P. 177. “Juan, could you come: Grau, interview by the author, June 1, 2004, MIAMI.

  P. 178. “He was a big believer: Pepín Hernández, interview by the author, July 25, 2002, Santiago.

  P. 178. Cobo recalled Pepín: Raimundo Cobo, interview by the author, September 24, 2004, Santiago de Cuba.

  P. 179. Hernández readily acknowledged: Pepín Hernández, interview by the author, July 2, 2005, Santiago de Cuba.

  P. 179. remembered Rivas as: Pepín Hernández, interview by the author, October 2004, Santiago de Cuba.

  P. 180. Guillermo Mármol, whose: Guillermo Mármol, interview by the author, February 9, 2006, Miami.

  P. 181. The Matamoros boys were: “Entrevista con Miguel Matamoros” (interview with Miguel Matamoros), date unknown, Trabajos de Muguercía, available at www.soncubano.com.

  P. 181. He asked Matamoros: Manuel Jorge Cutillas, interview by the author, May 24, 2004, Miami.

  P. 182. As Grau waited: Grau, interview with the author, June 1, 2004 MIAMI.

  P. 183. an architectural firm assessed: Sáenz-Cancio-Martín Ingenieros, “Report on Bacardi Office Building,” April 1954, Bacardi archives.

  P. 184. The final Mies: Franz Schulze, Mies van der Rohe: A Critical Biography (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985), 302.

  Chapter 14. Rising Up

  P. 185. Suddenly, the tallest: Juan Grau, interview by the author, June 1, 2004, Miami.

  P. 186. Recounting their meeting: Alberto Bayo, Mi aporte a la revolución cubana (Havana: Ejército Rebelde, 1960), quoted in Szulc, 327.

  P. 188. “The one and only: Anderson, 216.

  P. 189. she suggested that the: Phillips, 298.

  P. 189. Che Guevara later: Franqui, 139.

  P. 189. “Comandante, the liaison: Szulc, 409.

  P. 189. Castro told Matthews: “Cuban Rebel Is Visited in Hideout,” New York Times, February 24, 1957.

  P. 190. whiled away his time: Thomas, 791.

  P. 190. Police interrogators tortured: Dubois, 150.

  P. 191. Bosch later said: Pepín Bosch, interview with Georgie Anne Geyer, January 17, 1985, Hoover Institution Archives, G.A. Geyer Collection (Box Number 7, Folder ID 45), Stanford, CA.

  P. 191. Bosch told his assistant: Guillermo Mármol, interview by author, February 9, 2006, Miami.

  P. 191. “Almost all of us here: Speech reported in Bacardi Gráfico 2, no. 4 (January 1957), 3.

  P. 191. “We will collect the funds: Rolando Masferrer to Pepín Bosch, March (date illegible), 1957, Bacardi archives.

  P. 191. These dictatorships have: Pepín Bosch, undated, memorandum in Bacardi archives.

  P. 192. Pazos was at work: Felipe Pazos, interview by Miguel Gonzalez-Pando, July 1991, Cuban Living History Project, Florida International University, Miami.

  P. 193. given Pazos two thousand: Guillermo Mármol, interview by the author, January 12, 2006, MIAMI.

  P. 193. fifteen local civic: The country club dinner is described in Dubois, 163-64.

  P. 194. “The wealthiest and most: “Finds Revolt Spirit Aflame in Cuban City,” Chicago Tribune, June 18, 1957.

  P. 194. Teofilo Babún: Babún and Triay, ix.

  P. 195. Bacardi rival: Dorschner and Fabricio, 89-90.

  P. 195. Roca later recalled: José Antonio Roca, interview by the author, March 28, 2006, Falls Church, VA.

  P. 195. In interviews with a: Bosch’s Mexico City discussion of his contributions to Castro was reported in a State Department memorandum from R. G. Cushing and J. L. Montllor, American Embassy, Mexico, October 11, 1960, “Cuban Industrialist’s Views on Cuba,” Foreign Service Despatch no. 397. Department of State Cuba Series, 737.00/10-1160. Bosch also acknowledged his funding of Castro to a New York Times reporter in “From Sugar to Banking to Rum,” New York Times, June 9, 1963.

  P. 195. “a mutually convenient: Padula, “Financing Castro’s Revolution,” 234.

  P. 195. Bosch also helped: Fursenko and Naftali, 6-7.

  P. 196. Frank País wrote: Sweig, 29.

  P. 197. police arrested Pepín Bosch’s son: “Claim 2 Yanks Tortured in Santiago Jail,” Chicago Tribune, August 8, 1957.

  P. 197. Lindy overheard one: Carlos “Lindy” Bosch, interview by the author, March 16, 2006, Hamilton, Bermuda.

  P. 198. “We cannot stimulate: Associated Press, “Cuban Strike Averted, Batista Forces Claim,” Washington Post, August 5, 1957.

  P. 198. His aide Guillermo Mármol: Guillermo Mármol, letter to the author, faxed March 1, 2006.

  P. 198. “In all Mexico: Eduardo Mascareñas to Pepín Bosch, March 18, 1957, Bacardi archives.

  P. 199. In his private diary: Guevara, “Pasajes de la Guerra Revolucionaria,” Escritos y Discursos, vol. 2, 120.

  P. 199. Guevara wrote Ramos Latour: Ernesto Che Guevara, “Letter to Daniel [René Ramos Latour],” December 14, 1957, reprinted in Franqui, 268-270.

  P. 199. Ramos Latour wasted no: René Ramos Latour, “Letter to Che Guevara,” December 19, 1957, reprinted in Franqui, Diary, 272-76.

  P. 201. Bacardi women, including: Amelia Comas, interview by the author, January 15, 2004, Arlington, VA.

  P. 201. The brewery manager: Padula, “Financing Castro’s Revolution,” 243, citing 1971 interview with Miranda.

  P. 201. Manuel Jorge Cutillas: Manuel Jorge Cutillas, interview by the author, May 24, 2004, Miami.

  P. 202. On November 4, the: José M. Bou to “Juanito,” November 4, 1958, Bacardi archives.

  P. 203. By the fall of 1958: Kirkpatrick, 192.

  P. 204. “the strongest bulwark: “Fidel Castro Speaks to Citizens of Santiago,” Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS), January 3, 1959.

  Chapter 15. Giving Fidel a Chance

  P. 206. Another sumptuous feast: The account of the planned luncheon is from Dubois, 360-61; Dorschner and Fabricio, 490, and from interviews with family members and company officials.

  P. 207. Manolo Ortega: “Noticiario de Hatuey,” Bacardi Gráfico 1, no. 2 (July 1956), 16-17.

  P. 207. Manuel Jorge Cutillas: Manuel Jorge Cutillas, interview by author, April 2, 2006, Washington, DC.

  P. 208. “We will show them: Dubois, 369.

  P. 208. “The triumph of the revolution: “Pepín Bosh [sic] regresó a Cuba,” La Tarde (Havan
a), January 6, 1959.

  P. 209. Virtually the entire: The account of the wedding is from “Raul Castro Is Captured,” Life, February 9, 1959; Cape, 185; and author interview with Cutillas, April 2, 2006.

  P. 209. Bosch brought with him: López-Fresquet, 75.

  P. 209. López-Fresquet’s deputy: Oscar Villar Fernández [Tesorero General de la República] to José Bosch Lamarque, January 22, 1959, Bacardi archives.

  P. 209. “It pleases me to: José M. Bosch to Miguel Díaz, January 25, 1959, Bacardi archives.

  P. 210. “a bad thing happening: “The Vengeful Visionary,” Time, January 26, 1959.

  P. 210. “To judge Dr. Castro’s: José M. Bosch to Luis Muñoz Marín, February 19, 1959, Bacardi archives.

  P. 210. “Crusade of Freedom: Bacardi Gráfico 3, no. 12 (January 1959).

  P. 211. “would not be in the: Senate Committee on the Judiciary, testimony of Ambassador Earl E. T. Smith, Hearing on Communist Threat to the United States through the Caribbean, 86th Congress, 2nd Session, August 30, 1960.

  P. 211. Members of Congress were: “Congressman Asks U.S. to Halt Castro Executions,” Chicago Tribune, January 15, 1959, 2.

  P. 211. “The situation in Cuba: José M. Bosch to F. L. Dorothy, January 23, 1959, Bacardi archives.

  P. 211. “Now it’s your turn: José M. Bosch to Alberto Parreño, January 27, 1959.

  P. 212. “Fidel Castro: Charles O. Porter, “La Cuba de Castro: Un reto para cubanos y americanos” (remarks, Santiago de Cuba, February 21, 1959), published in Bacardi Gráfico 3, no. 12 (January 1959), 8-11.

  P. 212. “You Americans: “Cuba’s Balance Sheet,” Wall Street Journal, February 13, 1959.

  P. 213. “the Americans are going: Franqui, 338.

  P. 214. My dear Abel: José M. Bosch to Abel Mestre, January 27, 1959, Bacardi archives.

  P. 214. “It seems that: José M. Bosch to José Miró Cardona, February 9, 1959, Bacardi archives.

  P. 214. On February 13: All quotes pertaining to Miró Cardona’s resignation are from “Castro Step Held End to Confusion,” New York Times, February 15, 1959.

  P. 215. Castro, however, was: Thomas, 1202.

  P. 215. (at least 475 executions: “Nye Goes on Trial as ‘Plotter’ in Cuba,” New York Times, April 12, 1959.