Havana Nocturne

by T. J. English

  7. GAMBLER’S PARADISE

  Ambassador Gardner urges elections: Thomas, Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom, pp. 629–30; Smith, The Fourth Floor, p. 20.

  “The Revolution cannot mean”: Franqui, Diary of the Cuban Revolution, p. 80.

  Economic upswing in Cuba: Thomas, pp. 562–63; Schwartz, Pleasure Island, pp. 147–54; “Havana’s New Tunnel,” “New Public Works Projects of the Batista Regime,” and “Havana Crossroads of the World,” Gente de la Semana, January 5, 1958.

  Ex-president Carlos Prío indicted: Jacobs, “Prío Spent Most of His Career Fighting Cuban Dictatorships,” Miami Herald, August 6, 1977; Schwartz, p. 149.

  Killing of Orlando León Lemus (El Colorado): Thomas, pp. 481, 483; Schwartz, p. 150; Bonachea and Valdez, Revolutionary Struggle 1947–1958, p. 298.

  La liga contra el cáncer: Lowinger and Fox, Tropicana Nights, p. 263.

  Tropicana background: Much detail comes from Lowinger and Fox. Also, “Tropicana Is Most Beautiful” and “Guide to After-Dark Havana,” Cabaret Yearbook 1, winter Resort No. (1956); “Cabaret Guide to Havana,” Cabaret Quarterly 5, special Resort No. (1956); Mallin, “Havana Night Life,” unpublished article, 1956–57; Sargent, “Cuba’s Tin Pan Alley,” Life, October 6, 1947.

  Martín Fox early biography: Lowinger and Fox, entire book.

  Roderico “Rodney” Neyra early biography: Lowinger and Fox, pp. 116–26; Cruz, Celia: My Life, p. 42; Sublette, Cuba and Its Music, pp. 476, 574, 576; “Tropicana Is Most Beautiful.”

  “The scene was a deserted city”: Roberts, Havana, pp. 227–28. Roberts does not identify the Shanghai Theater by name but leaves little doubt when he writes: “On the edge of the Chinese quarter a theater of this sort [strip club] has existed for a long time. I shall not name it, but identification by a visitor is not difficult since it advertises discreetly and every bartender and taxi driver knows about it.”

  Sun Sun Babae: Mallin, “Cuba’s Carefree Cabaret,” Cabaret, April 1957; Lowinger and Fox, pp. 124–26, 189–92. There is also a detailed description of Sun Sun Babae in Cruz, pp. 42–44.

  Trafficante gift to Ofelia Fox: Lowinger and Fox, pp. 22, 182–83.

  Trafficante befriends M. Fox: Lowinger and Fox, pp. 180–84, 206; Deitche, The Silent Don (II), p. 67.

  Trafficante gift to Felipe Dulzaides: Author interview, confidential source, 2006.

  Rothman-Chaviano relationship: Lowinger and Fox, pp. 205, 207; Cirules, The Mafia in Havana (I), p. 122. Rothman and Chaviano were eventually married in Havana and had a son. Chaviano was renowned for her exotic beauty and, according to Cirules, also known for having affairs when Rothman was out of town.

  Travel to Havana (Pan Am, Delta, West Indies Fruit and Steamship Co.): Schwartz, pp. 66–67, 107–8, 123; Lowinger and Fox, pp. 256, 337.

  Reopening of Oriental Park Racetrack: Phillips, “Cuba Is Betting on Her New Gambling Casinos,” New York Times, November 6, 1955; Schwartz, pp. 123–24.

  Beating of Joseph Lease: Havana Post, December 11, 1955; Schwartz, p. 124.

  Eartha Kitt at Club Parisién: Author interview, Estela Rivas, Havana, August 15 and 17, 2006; Acosta, Cubano Be, Cubano Bop, p. 124; Lacey, Little Man, p. 229; Thomas, p. 570. Curiously, Kitt makes no mention of her famous Havana appearance in her autobiography, Confessions of a Sex Kitten.

  Nat King Cole in Havana: Epstein, Nat King Cole, p. 153. Epstein describes Cole being disturbed by the sight of conspicuously armed soldiers at his show; Lowinger and Fox, pp. 278–81, 296–300; Schwartz, p. 125; Depestre Catoney, “Nat ‘King’ Cole at Tropicana,” http://www.CubaNow.com, undated.

  Interracial entertainment scene in Havana: There is a difference of opinion about how interracial the scene truly was. According to Delio Valdes, a journalist in Havana at the time, who is of African descent, there were racist policies at some of the large high-end clubs, especially at the Sans Souci and Montmartre. Dark-skinned Afro-Cubans were not welcome—not even as hired help. “Tropicana was not as bad as the others,” said Valdes. “The smaller clubs is where most of the race mixing took place.” Author interview, Delio Valdes, Miami, October 17, 2006.

  Castro amnesty: The circumstances surrounding Castro’s release from prison are drawn from Szulc, Fidel; Geyer, Guerilla Prince; Thomas; Bonachea and Valdes; Franqui; Mencia, The Fertile Prison; American Experience: Fidel Castro, PBS documentary.

  “As we leave the prison”: Szulc, p. 346.

  Relatives’ Amnesty Committee: Ibid., pp. 343–45.

  8. ARRIVEDERCI, ROMA

  Fidel Castro did not dance: Neither did his fellow comandante, Ernesto “Che” Guevara.

  “What do our homeland’s pain”: Mencia, The Fertile Prison, p. 59.

  Castro out of prison: Castro’s first months in Havana after being released from prison are chronicled in: Szulc, Fidel; Geyer, Guerilla Prince; Franqui, Diary of the Cuban Revolution; Thomas, Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom.

  “I am leaving Cuba”: Franqui, p. 90; Szulc, p. 346.

  Castro in Mexico City: For a detailed presentation of Castro’s time in exile, see Szulc; Geyer; Franqui; Anderson, Che Guevara; Casteñeda, Compañero.

  Lansky payments to Tendelera: Lacey, Little Man, p. 247; Cirules, The Mafia in Havana (I), p. 112.

  Control of slot machines by Roberto Fernández Miranda: Lowinger and Fox, Tropicana Nights, pp. 253–54, 316–17; Schwartz, Pleasure Island, p. 184; Havermann, “Mobsters Move in on Troubled Havana,” Life, March 10, 1958; Reiss, “The Batista–Lansky Alliance,” Cigar Aficionado, May/June 2001.

  “Martí once said”: Mencia, p. 116.

  Castro fund-raising in United States: Szulc, pp. 369–72; Bonachea and Valdes, Revolutionary Struggle 1947–1958, pp. 281–87; Mormino, “Rallying for the Revolution,” Tampa Tribune, February 19, 2006.

  “I can inform you”: Bonachea and Valdes, p. 285.

  Castro in Tampa/Ybor City: Mormino, “Rallying”; author interview, Cookie Garcia, Tampa, July 7, 2006; author interview, Henry Beltran, Tampa, July 7, 2006. Cuban immigrant Henry Beltran remembers attending Castro’s speech at the Italian Club in Ybor City in 1955. He even gave five dollars to the cause, of which he now says, “Fidel Castro owes me five dollars.”

  Assassination of Blanco Rico: Author interview, Delio Valdes, Miami, October 17, 2006. Valdes provided the detail that Mario Lanza was singing “Arrivederci, Roma” when the shooting began. Also Bonachea and Valdes, pp. 85–86; Franqui, p. 176; Cirules (I), p. 120; Thomas, pp. 582–83.

  Death of General Rafael Salas Cañizares: Thomas, p. 583.

  “I do not know who carried out”: Bonachea and Valdes, p. 86.

  Creation of La Compañía Hotelera Riviera de Cuba (the Riviera Hotel Company of Cuba): Lacey, pp. 233–37; Messick, Lansky (II), pp. 194–98; Cirules (I), pp. 148–55; Schwartz, pp. 156–59.

  Creation of dealer training schools: The school in the Ambar Motors building on La Rampa and Calle Infanta was one of numerous schools opened by the Havana Mob over a two-year period. Author interview, Armando Jaime Casielles, January 24 and 26, 2007; author interview, Ralph Rubio, September 16 and October 24, 2006; Lowinger and Fox, p. 181.

  Rafael “Ralph” Rubio: Rubio worked closely with Lansky over a two-year period as a dealer and eventually credit manager at the Hotel Riviera casino. Author interview, Ralph Rubio.

  Evaristo “Tito” Rubio background and murder: Author interview, Ralph Rubio; Deitche, Cigar City Mafia (I), pp. 30–34.

  The Cellini brothers (Dino and Eddie): Messick, Syndicate in the Sun (I), pp. 196, 217, 229, 233, 237.

  “I got along well with Eddie”: Author interview, Ralph Rubio.

  “We had more students”: Ibid.

  “The Cubans made excellent dealers”: Ibid.

  “It was hard work”: Eisenberg, Dan, and Landau, Meyer Lansky, p. 255.

  “It was a beautiful bracelet”: Author interview, Ralph Rubio.

  Granma expedition: Like the attack on the Moncada army barracks, the landing of the Granma is one of the seminal even
ts of the Cuban Revolution and is dealt with at length in Guevara, Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War; Franqui; Thomas; Szulc; Geyer; Anderson; Casteñeda; Matthews, The Cuban Story; Phillips, Cuba: Island of Paradox.

  “The entire boat took on”: Guevara, p. 40.

  “I wish I could fly”: Szulc, p. 408.

  “This wasn’t a landing”: Szulc, p. 409; Anderson, p. 367.

  Slaughter at Alegría de Pío: Guevara, pp. 42–55; Szulc, pp. 14–21; Thomas, pp. 589–90; Casteñeda, pp. 99–101.

  “Fidel tried in vain”: Guevara, p. 44.

  “I immediately began to wonder”: Ibid., pp. 44–45.

  Fidel and Raúl Castro announced dead: Szulc, pp. 411–12; Thomas, pp. 591–94.

  “Terrorism flared”: Phillips, pp. 291–92.

  Bombings coincide with firing of cannon: Author interview, Delio Valdes.

  Ad in Diario de la Marina: The ads also appeared in U.S. newspapers, especially in New York and Miami.

  Beny Moré (El Bárbaro del Ritmo): Author interview, Helio Orovio, Havana, August 24, 2006; Orovio, Diccionario de la musica cubano, pp. 111–12; Acosta, Cubano Be, Cubano Bop, pp. 114–28; 138–40; Sublette, Cuba and Its Music, pp. 547–49, 560–61.

  Moré at Tropicana: Lowinger and Fox, pp. 257–59.

  New Year’s bombing at Tropicana: Ibid., pp. 286–87, 291–93, 304–5.

  Murder of four teenagers: Thomas, pp. 600–1; Phillips, “Cuba Suppresses Youths,” New York Times, March 14, 1957; American Experience: Fidel Castro, PBS documentary.

  9. A BULLET FOR EL PRESIDENTE

  Lansky at the Malecón: Author interview, Armando Jamie Casielles, January 24 and 26, 2007; also Armando Jaime interview, La mafia en La Habana, documentary.

  Armando Jaime background: Author interview, Armando Jamie Casielles; Cirules, La vida secreta de Meyer Lansky en La Habana (II), pp. 23–31; González, “El mafioso que se fue con Castro,” Crónica, October 23, 2005; “Yo fui guardaespalda de Meyer Lansky,” Juventude Rebelde, February 6, 2005.

  Lansky and Jaime meet in Vegas: Author interview, Armando Jaime Casielles; Cirules (II), pp. 66–74; “Yo fui guardaespalda”; La mafia en La Habana.

  Lansky and Jaime at Hotel Nacional: Author interview, Armando Jaime Casielles; La mafia en La Habana.

  Joe Stassi background: Stratton, “The Man Who Killed Dutch Schultz,” GQ, September 2001; O.G.: Joe Stassi, Original Gangster, documentary.

  Stassi house and meetings: Author interview, Armando Jaime Casielles; Cirules, The Mafia in Havana (I), p. 115; Cirules (II), pp. 93, 174–75. Location of Stassi house was viewed by the author in March 2007. The house had been converted into a precinct for the Cuban military police, and it was forbidden by law to take photos.

  Thomas “Blackjack” McGinty: U.S. Treasury Department memo, Dade County, OCB file #1–139, September 1961; Lacey, Little Man, pp. 99, 232, 256; Fox, Blood and Power, p. 89; Havermann, “Mobsters Move into Troubled Havana,” Life, October 10, 1958.

  Charles “the Blade” Tourine, alias Charles White: Cirules (II), pp. 156–60; Time, January 20, 1958; Havermann, “Mobsters”; U.S. Treasury Department memo, Dade County OCB file #1–139, September 1961.

  Nicholas di Costanza: Cirules (I), pp. 119–20; Cirules (II), pp. 111, 145, 202; U.S. Treasury Department memo, Dade County, OCB file #1–139, September 1961.

  Joe Silesi, alias Joe Rivers: U.S. Treasury Department memo, Dade County OCB file #1–139, September 1961; Cirules (I), p. 121; Lacey, pp. 244–45; “Anastasia Case Holds ‘150 Angles,’” New York Herald Tribune, October 30, 1957; Havermann, “Mobsters”; Lahey, “Gamblers Find Cuba Paradise,” Washington Post, January 9, 1958.

  William Bischoff, alias Lefty Clark: Lowinger and Fox, Tropicana Nights, pp. 22, 181, 280, 286, 323, 326; Schwartz, Pleasure Island, pp. 139, 142, 177; Lahey, “Gamblers”; U.S. Treasury Department memo, Dade County, OCB file #1–139, September 1961.

  Eddie Levinson: Lacey, pp. 232, 234; Eisenberg, Dan, and Landau, Meyer Lansky, pp. 256, 274, 279; Cirules (I), p. 153; U.S. Treasury Department memo, Dade County, OCB file #1–139, September 1961.

  Concerns about Anastasia: Author interview, Armando Jaime Casielles; author interview, Ralph Rubio, September 16, 2006, and October 24, 2006; Cirules (I), pp. 7, 14–15; Cirules (II), pp. 103–23; “¿Operan en nuestros cabarets gangsters americanos?” Confidencial de Cuba, January/February 1958.

  Albert Anastasia biography: Anastasia’s personal and criminal history and role in the formation of the U.S. underworld are covered in Turkus and Feder, Murder Inc.; Bernstein, The Greatest Menace; Bonnano, A Man of Honor; Fox, Blood and Power; Maas, The Valachi Papers; Nelli, The Business of Crime; Peterson, The Mob; Raab, Five Families. Also details drawn from FBI File #62–98011, Subject: Albert Anastasia (FOIA).

  Murder of Abe “Kid Twist” Reles: Covered in all the above Mob histories, most notably Murder Inc.

  Anastasia testimony: Kefauver Committee Transcripts, U.S. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

  Mangano, Ferri, and Macri murders: All are detailed extensively in FBI file

  #62–98011, Subject: Albert Anastasia (FOIA).

  Arnold Schuster murder: An interesting and detailed examination of this murder can be found in Willie Sutton with Edward Linn, Where the Money Was (New York: Broadway Books, 1976, reprint edition), chapter entitled “Who Killed Arnold Schuster?,” pp. 319–35.

  Sit-down at Warwick Hotel: Meskill, “Yen for Cuba Cash Doomed Anastasia,” New York World-Telegram and Sun, January 9, 1958; Ragano and Raab, Mob Lawyer, pp. 33–34; Lacey, pp. 239–45; Deitche, The Silent Don (II), pp. 77–78; “Anastasia Case Holds.”

  Castro reemergence: DePalma, The Man Who Invented Fidel, entire book; Matthews, The Cuban Story, entire book; Szulc, pp. 442–52; Thomas, pp. 598–608; Matthews, “Cuban Rebel Is Visited in Hideont,” New York Times, February 24, 1957; “Rebel Strength Gaining in Cuba, but Batista Has the Upper Hand,” New York Times, February, 25, 1957; “Old Order in Cuba Is Threatened by Forces of an Internal Revolt,” New York Times, February 26, 1957.

  Reaction to and fallout from Matthews’s articles: DePalma, pp. 102–3, 107–9; Szulc, pp. 452–54; Thomas, pp. 608–12.

  Attack on the presidential palace: Thomas, pp. 613–19; Szulc, pp. 456–59; Franqui, pp. 147–69; Smith, The Fourth Floor, pp. 41–42; La Habana en los años 50s, documentary.

  “There are no rebels in the Sierra Maestra”: Thomas, p. 619.

  “Lefty Clark’s casino”: Beginning in mid-1957, the casino at the Tropicana was advertised as such in Diario de la Marina and other publications.

  Automobile giveaway: Lowinger and Fox, pp. 281, 286–87.

  10. CARNIVAL OF FLESH

  Deauville Hotel-Casino: The facility opened on June 16, 1957, on the corner of Galiano, Malecón, and San Lázaro.

  Evaristo Garcia Jr.: Ragano and Raab, Mob Lawyer, pp. 39–40, 348; Deitche, Cigar City Mafia (I), p. 89; Deitche, The Silent Don (II), p. 66.

  Trafficante applies for residency: U.S. Treasury Department memo, Dade County OCB file #1–139, September 1961; Deitche (II), p. 69.

  John Martino: Waldron with Hartmann, Ultimate Sacrifice, pp. 457–58.

  Ralph Reina: Deitche (II), pp. 68–9.

  Dr. Ferdie Pacheco: Author interview, Dr. Ferdie Pacheco, February 23, 2007.

  Trafficante and narcotics: The subject of Trafficante’s possible involvement in drug smuggling in Cuba is covered in various FBN confidential memos dating from 1947 to 1957; see also U.S. Treasury Department memo, Dade County OCB file #1–139, September 1961; Ragano and Raab; Deitche (I); Deitche (II); Saenz Rovner, La conexión cubana.

  George “Saturday” Zarate: U.S. Treasury Department memo, Dade County OCB file #1–139, September 1961; FBN RG-170, confidential memo, March 21, 1947; “Zarate Bolita Case to be Called Today Before Third Judge,” Tampa Tribune, August 4, 1947; “George Zarate, Ex-Racketeer, Dies in Cuba,” Tampa Tribune, August 25, 1955; Deitche (I), pp. 10–14.

  Cocaine at Sans Souci: Ragano an
d Raab, p. 47.

  John F. Kennedy’s presence in Havana: Smith, The Fourth Floor, p. 222; Thomas, Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom, p. 647; Dorschner and Fabricio, The Winds of December, p. 49; Waldron with Hartmann, p. 227.

  JFK orgy at Hotel Comodoro: Ragano and Raab, pp. 39–40; Lacey, Little Man, p. 340.

  Sex in Cuba: Havana’s roots as a place of prostitution and vice are explored in Sublette, Cuba and Its Music. See also Tomás Fernández Robaina, “The Brothel of the Caribbean,” in Chomsky and Smorkaloff, The Cuba Reader, pp. 257–59; Oscar Lewis et al., “A Prostitute Remembers,” in Chomsky and Smorkaloff, The Cuba Reader, pp. 260–63.

  Show magazine: I am indebted to author Rosa Lowinger, who allowed me to examine her impressive collection of Show magazines from the 1950s.

  Availability of showgirls: The role of showgirls in the sexual climate of the times was commented upon by virtually everyone I interviewed, including Bernard Frank, Miami, March 3, 2006; Estela Rivas, Havana, August 15 and 17, 2006; Helio Orovio, Havana, August 24, 2006; José “Pepe” Rodríguez, Havana, August 24, 2006; Delio Valdes, Miami, October 17, 2006; Armando Jaime Casielles, January 24 and 26, 2007; Joe Stassi Jr., telephone, March 22, 2007; as well as other sources who asked to remain anonymous.

  Havana nightclubs: Many of the clubs are profiled in various issues of Show; there are advertisements for the clubs in Show, Confidencial de Cuba, and other Cuban publications. The life and atmosphere at the smaller clubs is detailed in Acosta, Cubano Be, Cubano Bop and Lowinger and Fox, Tropicana Nights. The atmosphere of the era in general is also presented in various issues of Cabaret magazine, as well as “skin” magazines from the era; for example, “Sin—With a Rumba Beat!,” Stag, November 1950.

  Bubbles Darlene in Havana: Cabaret Yearbook, Winter Resort No. (1956).

  “The Americans from the South”: Lowinger and Fox, p. 206.

  Prostitution in Havana: The subject was discussed in author interviews with Bernard Frank; Rosa Lowinger, Los Angeles, July 21, 2006; Estela Rivas; Helio Orovio; Delio Valdes; Armando Jaime Casielles; and Joe Stassi Jr. Additional sources, especially in relation to Doña Marina and her brothels: “Sin—with a Rumba Beat”; Skylar, “Cuba’s Lure-Legalized Filth!,” Suppressed, February 1957; “Guide to After-Dark Havana,” Cabaret Yearbook (1956); Robaina in Chomsky and Smorkaloff, pp. 257–59; Lewis et al., in Chomsky and Smorkaloff, pp. 260–63.