Music and dance: soul of Cuba

The gallery walls are festooned with black and white photos of famous figures who have stayed there from singer Josephine Baker, (who was refused at the Hotel National because she was black) and boxer Joe Louis to Al Capone, who took the entire sixth floor for himself and his bodyguards.

Capone occupied Room 615. The top storey restaurant is a magnificent example of neo-classical decor, perfect for sampling a Mary Pickford invented here, which consists of rum, pineapple juice and grenadine

The Seville was the setting for the comical intrigue of Wormold in ‘Our Man in Havana’. Greene also had Wormold and Hasselbarcher up at the Wonder Bar, two block South at the Comer of Pasco and Vtrtudes, where a remnant of tie bar called, La Mavavilla (The Wonder) stiff stands.

A short stroll from our hotel, Ambos Mundos, we often ate at the Cafe La Mina with tables set out on the pavement as well as in the lovely Colonial Courtyard, facing the Plaza Armas in the shaded pate enjoying the live music. We ordered a dish but the waiter did not recommend it. He insisted we change the order. We didn’t and we enjoyed the meal as we were looking through our map of Havana, trying to locate the Plaza de Armas. Unable to find it in the map, I looked up and through palm leaves bordering the patio, I saw the sign right smack in front of us. We photographed our point of view.

Ernest Che” Guevera an Argentinean with a medical degree was Fidel Castro’s best field commander who took command of Havana’s main military posts on New Year’s Day in 1959.

The revolutionary regime declared Guevera, a native Cuban citizen, as an act of gratitude rendering him, legally entitled to hold office in Cuba Che (the word is an affectionate Argentinean colloquial term for “pal’ or-buddy,) became National Bank of Cuba and Minister of Finance. In 1961 he was named the Minister of Industry.

Che Guevera’s image is everywhere. The photographer Aberto Korda shot the famous image in a buttoned up tunic shirt and beret, sold in every city of the world and has turned Che into a modem myth the world over, that will live forever.

The MAFIA

Che Guevera

The mob was represented by Meyer Lansky who arrived in Havana in 1939.

Lansky and his boss, the charismatic Salvatore “Lucky” ‘ Luciano made a deal with the President of Cuba, the fanner sergeant then ruling Cuba, Fuljencio Batista. They took over the gambling and operated several casinos including the Hotel National.

“Lucky” Luciano was deported to Italy ‘but in 1946 he moved to Cuba from where he intended to operate narcotics and gambling. He called a meeting at the Hotel National. That mafia meeting was the biggest since the Chicago meeting in 1932. This meeting was immortalized in the movie. ‘The Godfather’. The cover for this meeting was that it “was meant to honour a nice Italian boy from Hoboken named “Frank Sinatra.” Sinatra went down to Havana to say “thanks”. The US Government pressured Cuba to deport Luciano back to Italy. Before leaving, Luciano named Meyer Lanksy Head of Operations in Cuba.

Florida failed to legalize gambling, giving Cuba the go ahead. The Mob brought Batista back to power in Cuba from Florida where he had moved to, and opened the doors to large-scale gambling.

The casinos flourished at the Hotel National, the Capri, The Comodoro, Deauville and the Seville-Biltmore hotels. Lansky cleaned up the casinos to attract Americans. Games were regulated and cheating was disallowed. Casinos and hotels were upgraded and cocaine and prostitutes supplied to high rollers. It is said that John F Kennedy occasionally popped down to Havana for sexual excitement. In 1957, Mob boss Santo Trafficante claims to have set JFK up with three gorgeous prostitutes in a special suite m the Hotel Comodoro which Trafficante owned. The room had a two way mirror and Trafficante and his friend and fellow casino owner Evaristo Garcia watched the performance.

Meyer Lansky built the ritziest hotel casino in Cuba. The Hotel Riviera and Gold Leaf casino which opened on December 10, 1958. Within three weeks, on New Year’s eve, the solo-out floor show at the Riviera Copa Room night club had 200 no-shows. Batista and his entourage had fled the country.

The mob were covering all bets by secretly funding the rebels as well as Batista. Once Castro took over. he closed down the casinos and in June 1959 Meyer Lansky, Trafficante and the rest of “fte Choir Boys’ were asked to leave Cuba. Right up to the time that Fidel took Cuba. Havana continued to be “a holiday paradise in the midst of political hell!”

We rumble down the narrow neopolitan streets in a 1957 Ford Fairlane convertible, inhaling the scent of the world’s finest cigars, mixed with the fresh sea, to the rhythms of the salsa beat emanating from each and every watering hole in the city.

“A sunny place for shady people “as Somerset Maugham wrote. Will this fascination last? Will it sweep away the aroma of the passing city?

The geographical position of Cuba with its strategic location between North and South America, has enticed, travellers, pirates and invaders. The early population consisted of European settlers, native Indians and thousands of black slaves brought from Africa Up to the abolition of slavery in 1886, the dominant culture was that of the Spanish invaders, with assorted travellers who had stopped in Cuba. The African slaves were able to preserve their music and dancers and spicy foods. The ethnic mosaic of whites, blacks and various mixers of races characterised the Cuban people and their culture to produce a unique blend, the Cubans are friendly and sociable people, Music and dance is the soul of the Island and is a vital part of daily life. Any excuse is good enough to improvise a party. Along with this free party spirit, the Cuban people as a whole, are family oriented and supportive of each other.

First inhabited in pre-Columbian times, Cuba was later conquered by the Spanish, who ruled for four centuries. The Island gained independence in 1899 only to come under the virtual control of the U.S. with the help of dictators Machado and Batista. The Revolution headed by Fidel Castro and Che Guevera who defeated Batista on January 1, 1959, was the turning point for the country. The new political system achieved major social results and Cuba is now finally emerging from decades of isolation.

Havana is a lively, colourful capital city, full of bustle and entertainment, with some of the most beautiful architectural gems from the Colonial period and beyond. (Habana Vieja)

Catedral de San Christobal has a typically Baroque facade, with undulating lives, convex surfaces and columns which set off the brightly coloured rose windows. The church dominates Plaza de la Catedral, which is surrounded by 17 - 18 century Colonial buildings. Construction of the Catedral de San Christobal (Cathedral of St. Christopher) began in 1748 under the supervision of Jesuit priests, but after they were expelled from Cuba, following a conflict with the Spanish crown, the church was finished by Franciscans in 1777.

According to popular belief, from the year 1796 up to the year 1898, this Cathedral housed the relics of Christopher Columbus. On November 16, the saints feast day a solemn mass is held here, during which the faithful, who have to stay quiet during the service, file past the statue of St.

Christopher, to silently ask for his blessings. This blessing is only given, as long as worshippers do not utter a word, until they have left the church.