Alternate History: Cuba as gangsterland- living conditions

So one of my big projects is an Alternate History YA steampunk novel set 20 Minutes in the Future with a Che Guevara clone as the protagonist. In it Cuba is a complete Banana Republic ruled by The Syndicate consisting of Cuban and American organised crime groups through the dictator, called Cabrera) Quite a lot of high-up people, including, it's strongly suspected, President/General Cabrera himself, are involved in cocaine trafficking and gambling. The country is a tourist destination (tourism ads in English even use "I'll See You In Cuba" by Irving Berlin as background music. Look at the chorus; it sounds a lot like a tourist ad, advertising all the pleasures of Cuba i.e. alcohol)

What might living conditions be like for the average city person who didn't have a job in a casino or club? Say a young teenager working as a B-girl, what would her life be like before she got that job? (One of the main adult female characters is an actress who was a B-girl/performer in seedy cabarets and is now married to an officer opposed to the government. The protagonist is one of her servants)

edited 16th Aug '12 4:53:00 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

I think a good place to start research would be to look up on the Mexican drug trade and war. There, cartels use (or at the very least did use) intimidation and corruption to infiltrate and establish power bases within the political, judicial and law enforcement systems.

However, I also think that the quality of life of the average citizen is largely independent of whether organised crime has a grip on government and more dependent on the competence and priorities of the people making the decisions and if there are opposing forces at play. For instance, if there is an active war against the drug trade (be it by local or foreign powers) that frequently spills onto the streets, then the life for the average citizen would suck and the economy would be in the crapper but that has more to do with the armed conflict and less to do with crime syndicates or vice.

One thing to consider is that as the organised crime syndicates have a ready source of income through vice (drugs, gambling, etc), there would be less incentive for them to actively steal government/official funds. Doing so would endanger their political power base. Rather, they would seek to set up policies conducive for their trade - i.e. lax laws on prostitution, giving casinos and gambling dens high levels of authority, etc. Some of these might be of benefit to commoners; such as high support/incentives towards agriculture/farming.

edited 14th Aug '12 8:05:32 PM by peasant

@peasant. I have Havana Before Castro and Havana Nocturne about the Batista era. The second one goes into detail about the association between Meyer Lansky, Santo Trafficante, and Batista.

Could be anything from being as bad North Korea, to as sweet as Brunei.

Depends largely on who has the power and if he/she is an asshole or not.

@Natasel: The leader is The Generalissimo.

You mentioned that the protagonist was a Che expy.

Will the story include any Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, or Fulgencio Batista expies?

@Deviant Braeburn I meant "clone" in the being a genetic double of Che sense, not in the Expy sense. Batista=Cabrera. BTW I haven't heard of any human cloning stories where the original was a revolutionary, or where Cuba is involved.

edited 15th Aug '12 1:56:23 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

Just wondering, is anyone else here confused by what I mean by "a Che Guevara clone?"

edited 15th Aug '12 1:51:49 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

I interpreted it the same way as , yes.

Interesting, I wonder if I'd get the same answer if the cloned person was Hitler.

Whether people default to the literal or the figurative interpretation depends on a number of things, of course. All else being equal, "Hitler clone" would be somewhat less likely to be interpreted figuratively than "Che clone", simply because there are quite a few precedents for literal Hitler clones in fiction. If anyone has done a literal Che clone before you, I'm not aware of it. :)

@ Morwen The Generalissimo ? Well then, the people are screwed.

If this arrogant SOB is funding his rule via (obvious?) drug trade though, I don't see how it could also be a "Tourism Destination!" (Or why he'd bother. Tourism dollars is small time and a hassel compared to drugs. Except it has less gunfire I suppose)

Unless this "Tourism" you speak of also comes with a very lax and understanding legal climate which may offer the following:

• Annonymity:

Visa/ID requirements are non-exsistent coming in and out under a false name to discretely enjoy Gangsterland Cuba's illicit attractions is expected and protected.

• Availability of Goods and Services Illegal in Home Nation:

You like little boys? Very fond of goats? We won't ask and we won't tell. (Until its time to black mail you that is.)

• Covert Banking:

The Swiss? Bah! Caving to internation pressure. The Cayman Islands? So very Yuppie. If you want some down and dirty banking, try Gangsterland Cuba Banking! Where not only will your money be waiting for you when you have to flee the border to a non-exchange treaty nation, we'll even throw you a line with our friendly Coyote Express Exit services for when you fee the urge to vist Gangsterland Cuba right the F*CK NOW!!!

@Natasel: The first two, with a dash of the third.

edited 15th Aug '12 9:35:36 PM by MorwenEdhelwen

Those ideas are good. BTW, you might know that Costa Rica, in Central America, also has a reputation as an "offshore financial centre." The thing is that Costa Rica isn't a dictatorship.

edited 17th Aug '12 8:44:32 PM by MorwenEdhelwen

The other obvious tourism draw is casinos. Heaps and heaps of casinos. And nightclubs.

edited 17th Aug '12 11:48:06 PM by MorwenEdhelwen

The things associated with gangsters that can also be tourist draws, or at least won't drive the tourists away: the big three have been mentioned: gambling, sex (calling it debauchery would be more accurate — that covers booze, recreational drug use, and other vices), and money-laundering/financial safe-havens.

Others that haven't been mentioned: it could be a contraband portal (smuggling by a prettier name; and it could be worked both ways — in and out of Cuba. ^note (anecdote: I have a ring that was given to me by my husband's mother. She received it from a friend who was a member of family that was Tsarist nobility before the revolution. When the family fled Russia just before the Revolution, they could not take money or bullion out of the country, but they were allowed to take their personal belongings. They converted as much of their money as they could into gold, and shipped the gold to Shanghai to be made into jewelry. Rings are not generally made of 22-karat gold — it's too soft. This one is. It wasn't made to be worn. It was made to move gold.) Taken individually, every individual step in the chain was legal. Taken together, it was an incredibly effective end-run around the limits on how much money could be taken out of the country, or straight-up smuggling. The advantage to smuggling is that the same infrastructure and systems used to move drugs can be used to move other things (or people) as well.

As well as a financial safe haven, serving as a haven for fugitives would be lucrative and wouldn't affect the tourist trade much, if at all. Skimpy or non-existent extradition treaties would make it a lovely place to run to if the law is after you, or you expect them to be after you shortly.

edited 18th Aug '12 12:02:39 AM by Madrugada

@Madrugada: Thanks! Do you mean they could use the country as a drug-shipping point?

edited 18th Aug '12 3:11:31 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

That, or almost any other thing that was contraband in another country. It doesn't even have to be completely contraband — heavily-taxed luxury goods are also prime candidates for smuggling, doubly so if they are small or easily portable.

Odd thing is, if the Gangsters are as in power as I think, they might circle from being criminals to being the "leitimate" authority.

If booze (used to be illegal during prohibition) weed (Free Love Man!) LSD (Expand your mind!) shrooms (it sacred pale face!) cocaine (ye olde miracle BABY tonic. I kid you not) and other drugs are legal, then thats a plausible reason for tourism to flourish.

Junkie Air?

To avoid antagonizing the USA (too much) I suppose they could have 3rd party smugglers legally buying Cuban drugs to transport past the American blockade.

With the rather interesting scenario that a Cuba flush with cash like that, could have a Generalisimo toss stupid amount of money on his people to buy their love, making life pretty good for the average Cuban and the waves of poor, desperate people trying to leave nonexsistent.

No smuggler in his right mind would rather carry people than drugs, drugs bring in far more money per gram, easier to store as there is no need for air, food, water, etc, and if he has to flush at sea, a lot less angery people out to kill him.

edited 18th Aug '12 5:53:17 AM by Natasel

@Natasel: Bread and Circuses are actually the order of the day.

edited 18th Aug '12 6:37:22 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

Past a certain point, Bread and Circus doesn't define it anymore.

Think Las Vegas. Yeah, the Mob started it up but right now the corporations own it all and the its all LEGITIMATELY robbing people blind.

Your "Mobster" just went mainstream.

Perhaps you need Noir elements? A little Ghetto? Some geo-political, social class, ideaological disputes?

@Natasel: Yeah, probably.

@Natasel:

Cocaine was considered a miracle drug for babies!? Could you give me some links to old ads? I'd like to see :).

edited 18th Aug '12 6:56:45 PM by MorwenEdhelwen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cocaine_for_kids.gifs

Not sure if the above works.

Anyway, once upon a time, bathing more than once a year was bad for you, smoking was good for your lungs, and tomatoes were poison.

Lets just say medical history isn't always full of the brightest ideas in hindsight.

@Natasel: Damn! It says "No file by that name exists :( Are there other links? I heard that rum and gin used to be given to babies in milk. Found a link to this site, which has an advertisement for "Cocaine Toothache Drops." Interesting...

edited 19th Aug '12 10:03:43 PM by MorwenEdhelwen