Did the Mafia really plan to make Cuba into a mobsters' paradise?

I'm reading T.J. English's Havana Nocturne: How The Mob Owned Cuba And Lost It To The Revolution for research on CL and its mob-ruled Cuban setting. On one page, the writer makes the suggestion that Meyer Lansky and his friend Lucky Luciano, with the rest of "The Committee", had long-term plans to turn Cuba into the centrepiece of a future mobsters' empire, basically what it is in CL. Is there any real evidence on what their long-term plans were?

I'm not an expert on pre-revolutionary Cuba (I know a bit more about it than my friends do) but everything I've read (mainly the book above and Havana Before Castro) suggest this. Does anyone know of any authoritative books on pre-revolutionary Cuba and the Mob's role in it, which offer some insight into their long-term plans?

edited 16th Aug '12 4:55:59 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

Surprisingly enough, yep. Mario Puzo, the guy who wrote the original "The Godfather" book, did a lot of research into that subject. By mainly talking to some of the Men of Honor who were involved in it. Pretty much all the background information in the novel is the real story, with serial numbers filed off in true mafia style.

As for factual works, you have already put in the top rated google result, but on google books, I found this:

http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Mafia_in_Havana.html?id=sKIZpa5cVT8C&redir_esc=y

Have a website link for a start.

http://cubamafia.com/

edited 16th Aug '12 3:24:50 AM by TamH70

I remember reading something about Mafia dealings in Cuba, might have been in conjunction with JFK's involvement with the mob.

@Tam H 70: Thanks. And @Catfish:JFK was involved with the Mob? I didn't learn that in Year 9 history...

edited 16th Aug '12 3:52:35 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

It's not really official history.

I'm not entirely sure about the details at the moment, but there was some shady things going on and there is theories they had things to do with his election as well as his death.

Sam Giancana (whose wikipedia page, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Giancana is not as good as it could be) helped JFK gain support in Chicago, which was vital for Kennedy in his first successful Presidential campaign. Him and his brother Bobby did deals which they reneged on and Giancana never forgave either of them.

It seems support of a re-conquest of Cuba by American-backed exiles was one of the deals that the Kennedy brothers welshed on.

@Tam H 70: By that, you mean the Bay Of Pigs, right?

Yep. But the thing that ended up as the Bay Of Pigs foul-up was originally planned as something much bigger than what actually happened. Including air support, naval gunfire support and a whole lot of other, well, support from official channels (US Navy/Airforce) that did not get tasked.

Kennedy seems to have said no to overt US military assistance, instead washing his hands of it somewhat and turning it over to the CIA.

The wiki page for this disaster is actually quite good.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Pigs_Invasion

Lots of footnotes and stuff.[though]It seems to miss out some of the thinking behind why Kennedy gave the go ahead for even the limited operation.

edited 16th Aug '12 12:33:26 PM by TamH70

And, as an aside, I think that JFK's father made a lot of his fortune smuggling alcohol during prohibition, no?

Yep. And he became Ambassador to the United Kingdom, even though he was a Nazi sympathizer. Had his own daughter lobotomized when she became embarrassing. He also was not in any way favourable towards FDR and hated the fact that the United States went to war with the Germans.

Basically, he was a cunt.

His wiki page is quite good at explaining just how much of a one he was.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_P._Kennedy,_Sr.

Joseph P. Kennedy's conections to the mob were most likely involved in voting fraud to make JFK win the election against Nixon.

JFK sent mobsters to go kill Fidel Castro.

JFK and RFK broke the cardinal rule of being an honest politician.

They didn't stay bought.

Giancana and the other heads of the Five Families, who weren't anywhere near as cuddly as Puzo portrayed them, never forgave either of them. Not getting Cuba back was only one of the least reasons why both of them were on La Cosa Nostra's shit list.

Kate Beaton is always appropriate.

@Furiko Maru: I'm laughing too.

edited 17th Aug '12 2:01:06 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

Back to the topic: how aware was the average person of the Mob's role? Could anyone guess?

Apparently Marta Batista (Fulgencio's wife) was the bookkeeper for the prostitution/gambling operations. Any evidence for that?

edited 23rd Aug '12 10:02:53 PM by MorwenEdhelwen

Well, she and her hubby left Cuba with an estimated 700 Million Dollars in 1950's money after the revolution, or so her wikipedia page says:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marta_Fernandez_Miranda_de_Batista

Draw yer own conclusions.

@Tam H 70: Certainly looks suspicious. Yep, definitely were some shady things going on.

I couldn't resist doing this song parody of a number from Evita:

The money rolled in from side to side,

As Fulgencio's hands reached far and wide.

Cabarets, casinos added to the stash,

That's why Havana flowed with dirty cash.

-Inspired by "The Money Kept Rolling In" by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

Incidentally, Eva Peron and Fulgencio Batista had similar backgrounds. A Batista bio-pic musical would be interesting. Now, if only I could find a composer... we might have a potential hit on our hands! Everyone likes a good gangster story with a rags-to-riches element.

Of course, Fidel and Che would serve as chorus figures and have a trio with Batista where they argue about his treatment of the peasants. And Eduardo Chibas would get a Sanity Slippage Song, where at the end the audience hears a gunshot... Marta and Fulgencio would have a duet where they talk about the opposition. There would be a Crowd Song in support of Batista in the first act, which gets a Dark Reprise in the second when the people start to really hate him. And the revolutionaries would all get a big chorus number which would also be a Villain Sucks Song. I'd have to think up some good catchy lyrics though.

Now it's looking even more tempting...

edited 23rd Aug '12 10:45:07 PM by MorwenEdhelwen

I just realised that I made a pun! "potential hit" . Appropriate, given the topic. Ha ha ha ha ha ha

edited 25th Aug '12 2:12:01 AM by MorwenEdhelwen