Organized Crime in Cuba - Dissertation Example

Organized Crime in Cuba Introduction Organized crime in Cuba was highly popular in the 1950s. During the period after 1900 but before 1950s, the mastermind of the American mafia was none other than Meyer Lansky. Over this period he nurtured a very strong bond with the corrupt dictator of Cuba, Fulgencio Batista. Through this, he earned himself a chance to open up as well as operate hotel casinos in the city of Havana. Meyer had already acquired the table of gambling of Montmartre club in around the 1930s. Soon afterwards the dictator, Batista, took the wheels of power in the year 1952. Subsequent to Batista taking power in 1952, he made an invitation to Lansky to increase his operations as well as take part as an adviser to the government in the process of aiding the cleaning up of the numerous crooked games of fraud and chance in the casinos of Cuba. This invitation led to a huge wave of many investing in and also the controlling over the legalized Cuba gaming. With the heightened enforcement of law coupled with the support that Batista extended to Lansky and Luciano together with Costello frank and Trafficane Santo junior saw Cuba as a vantage point from which they could operate and expand their empires of gambling. As Salinger approximates, during the period of 1950s, this American mafia was in control of about 19 Cuban casinos. Batista alongside with his associates were in return compensated with huge sums of dollars as bribes and a portion of revenue from these mob-run casinos of Cuba. Thus, the main type of white-collar crime in the Cuban government was rather the corruption and bribing than the gambling activities. This is the crime that is believed to have resulted to the fall of Batista as well as the rise in the anti-corruption revolution in Cuba.1 (Salinger, 2005 p234) The study is set out to discuss organized crime in detail and it will focus on the Cuban context. There will be a comprehensive answer to the question, “To what extent did organized crime utilize casinos to control the nation of Cuba prior to the communist revolution?” Main Body The Business of Casinos Ran from the Top of the Government to Top Businessmen Who Migrated From US to Supposedly Cleanse Up the Disorganized Gambling In Cuba The whole fiasco of the Cuban casino businesses is believed to have been the work of Batista. He was the mastermind of the whole mess. In the year 1933 he led a coup de tat which is popularly known as ‘Revolt of the Sergeants’ and was also able to take over the steering wheel of Cuba. He as well did away with President Machado Geraldo from Cuba while at the same time stopping the democratic electoral process. Following the success, he was able to place four puppet presidents from 1933 to the year 1940. At this point he controlled the whole presidency from his position as the armed forces chief. All this time, the citizens of Cuba were highly disgusted by Batista’s moves. They wanted change. Following their complaints presentation a legitimate constitution was drafted, which required that after every four years there would be a presidential election. Batista vied using the same constitution but after his first year of rule the people of Cuba opted out due to his ways of embezzling money. After 1944, he was pushed out of the nation of Cuba and he went to Florida to stay in his mansion. The next election year, 1948, came but he was not qualified to stand to be elected as president. But the then Cuba’s president- Grau Martin, permitted him to take part in the presidential elections. However, after it was all clear that he was not the Cuban People’s favorite, he started to plan for another overthrow. He had maintained the strong bond with the army up to that moment. Meyer Lansky and Invitation by President Batista Following his plotting a coup, he was able to seize power and did away with all the traces of a democratic system in 1952. Meanwhile, he became partners with the mafia of Sicilia among who was Meyer Lansky. He spent a long period in the famous New York’s Astoria towards the end of 1940s, where he finalized on his plans with Meyer regarding the distribution of money to all casinos in context. Batista issued licences to the mob as well as the permission of running their casino business deals in Cuba. Other bad influences and vices tagged along with the casino business with the examples of drugs, prostitution and corruption. Havana was transformed to what would better be known as the “Latin Las Vegas” catching the hardworking individuals in Cuba unawares. They were left with their mouths agape and were also lost in the middle of nowhere. President Batista was fully corrupted and tough. He had his special type of police who ‘walked’ the whole of Cuba to enforce the laws of Batista. In the onset of 1950s, Havana city became the port of drug distribution for another member of the mafia, Lucky Luciano. He carried out his casino business alongside drug trafficking. Meanwhile all these deals took place in the popular Hotel Nacional. However, he (Batista) fled Cuba after he was overthrown by Fidel Castro in 1958.2 (Reyes, 2004) Louis Sexto points out the whole ordeal of organized crime started in 1933 when the mafia (Halian-American) began to show dominance in the city of Havana. This was made even easier since Batista had succeeded in overthrowing the then government. Before we analyze them, it is good to note that the individuals involved in the mafia casino business were mainly three. The business of casinos revolved around two mafia leaders, Meyer Lansky and Charles Lucky Luciano. With Meyer being the leader, Luciano became the second-in-command. As a business deal Batista accepted Meyer’s proposal as well as approved the Cosa Nostra to develop and also administer gambling’s table of green baize. A casino of National Hotel came up subsequently and it became one of the most the sumptuous houses of gambling in North America. While Meyer concealed all his dubious business deals under a face of a gentleman, Lucky Luciano was the extremely apposite. He was described as not cautious and not respecting the rule of silence. His memoirs sold him out as they portrayed his very first Cuban business affair. Lucky Luciano revealed some of the deals between him and Lansky and even went further to state that some of the fortunes to Batista were invested in the houses of gambling found in Nassau, Bahamas and even in London. The debut to investment by the crime mob called for bigger space. In the year 1937, Batista and Meyer signed a brand new agreement with the backing of the US embassy. Among further agreements between the two there came the nine casinos, a hippodrome and six hotels. In the same year Meyer Lansky established a business undertaking in Cuba. During the time when Lansky was setting up his first business, Luciano was in prison in the US. He was mad when he heard the new accords’ progress. Following this, he requested Lansky’s visitation since he figured out that Batista and Lansky were dodging him. He was briefed about every progress by his representative in Havana. This is due to the fact that it was very easy to access the outside news as a mafia leader. It was during the 1940s that gambling alongside prostitution and not forgetting the drugs rocked Cuba. Through Havana, these found their way to the US. This study is going to expand further on these men as they were involved in the casino business in Cuba. 3(Sexton, 2005) The Cuban dictator by the name Batista Fulgencio was highly attracted to Lansky among other individuals, who were particularly interested in him for his carpet joints chained from Saratoga all the way to Key West. But for Batista, the rest of the individuals were American. Following Batista’s seizing power in 1952; Cuba was dubbed the Paris of the new globe. Americans and Europeans alike flocked the Cuba’s sunny beaches. At this point, Cuban gambling was also at its peak as well. Despite this fact, Batista was faced with a big hurdle since the gambling games were viewed as crooked which led to no one taking part. Tourism hit a slump during this period as gamblers avoided Cuban casinos. They would rather play in the joints of Puerto Rico which were more honest. Batista had to do something to save this situation. The only option he had to put some amount honestly in to these games was to invite Meyer Lansky on board. The dictator appointed Lansky as his advisor upon the reforms of gambling and authorized him to clear the mess of crooked houses of gaming such as Montmartre club and Sans souci club while Lansky, kicked out of the casino bosses of Havana, he retained Santo Trafficante Junior. He also leaned upon Norman Rothman who was the operator of Sans Souci to start the operations of a clean game. He ordered that operations of croupiers and dealers, most of whom were American. He also brought in the practice of Blackjack dealing that led to the cheating minimization by players and dealers.4 (Cubaheritage.org, 2009) As Schwartz puts it, Lansky decided to quit the competitive business of liquor and took to the illicit but profitable gambling. When Batista called upon him for aid he concluded his pit crews and headed for Havana. While at Havana he was able to run games of cards, roulette wheels and dice tables openly. In this town, gambling was legal and thus he could run this business easily. He made regular operations of casinos and thus Cuba was now set for better days of tourism business. (Schwartz, 1999 pp100, 101) For a good number of years Lansky operated tables of gambling at the Montmartre club in Havana. During this time the dig time gamblers made it their favorite place unlike any other place in Cuba. Lansky was seen to run honest games. Thus, after the grievances by tourists that there was open cheating in gambling, Batista had no choice but to pick Lansky. As Meyer Lansky went to Havana, other figures of organized crime from Miami, Las Vegas and Cleveland resettled their business to Havana. Meyer Lansky made Jake Lansky the pit boss at his set up, Hotel Nacional. The manager was also an associate of Lansky, Sam Tucker. Many other gamblers in the US also showed up in Havana.5 (Paterson, 1995 p55) Santo Trafficante Is Sent to Cuba by His Father Another great player in the casino business in Cuba was Santo Trafficante. He was born in Florida USA. Santo Trafficante Senior, his father was renowned for his leadership in the mafia. During the period of 1940s he joined hands with the likes of Frank Costello, Luccky Luciano and Meyer Lansky in the establishing of gambling business in the nation of Cuba. Meanwhile, it was Batista, the Cuban dicator who received a gigantic share of the profits reaped from the casinos. The post period after Santo Trafficante’s marriage to Josephine in the year 1938, he continued working for his father up to 1953 in Florida. Since 1953 he was relocated to Cuba so that he could manage part of the mafia casino’s empire. Later the following year, it was Santo Trafficante the junior who had the whole control of these business operations due to the demise of his father caused by stomach cancer. Santo also stayed for a short while in Florida, which led to his arrest as well as conviction for the offenses he had committed in gambling. In the year 1957 he was released from jail due to his conviction being overturned by the supreme court of Florida. Many believe that he was involved firsthand in the murder of his mafia competitor Albert Anastasia. However, after his return to Cuba, Santo had all his casinos closed down. This was due to the successful coup de tat by Fidel Castro over Batista in early 1959. He (Santo) spent a fair share of time in jail prior to his deportation to the US. 6(Spartacus.school.co.uk, 2009) As Staten writes, Havana was surrounded by Shanty towns and squatter settlements. It had a corrupt, dark and sordid side as a city. Organized crime spilt over from the US and it was owned fully or partially by the large number of set ups of gambling. The most notable of the underground figures involved in this business were such individuals like Santos Trafficante and Meyer Lansky. These two individuals were in the control of casino international as well as Sans Souci. They were also implicated to the ownership of a syndicate described as behind-the-scenes which run the Tropicana, Riviera, Capri hotel and the Sevilla Biltmore. They also controlled the Havana Hilton. These casinos made regular payments to the corrupt regime of Cuba officials. As a matter of fact this was allowed as a part of running these operations. With the aid of this business set ups prostitution became the order of the day which served the sailors of America and tourists as well.7 (Staten, 2003 p82) Lucky Luciano Enters Cuba Following Deportation to Italy to Run His Gangster Operations from Havana The other of the main players in the Cuban casino business was none other than Lucky Luciano. Born in Sicily, Luciano moved alongside his family to the USA. While here, he rose the ranks to become the leader of organized crime in the New York. Dewey, Thomas prosecuted a case against Lucky Luciano together with fifteen other of his associates in the mob. Later when Dewey became New York’s governor he agreed upon the deportation of Lucky to Italy in exchange to his sentence in jail, though. The aim of the previous prosecution was to bring down the mob by the way of removing the top rank Overlords. Luciano agreed to offer support to the US war against Italy and Germany as part of the consent. After his deportation, there were rumors that Luciano had plans of leaving Italy to the hemisphere in the west in his bid to maintain and coordinate his control over the established business interests in the USA. His options were Mexico and Cuba. In spite of the efforts by the authorities of US to Cuba’s blocking his entry to Cuban territories, he nonetheless made an uneventful and quiet arrival in Camaguey. This was in year 1946. While in Havana, Luciano resumed his flashy lifestyle like that he led in New York. He required both the racetracks as well as the casino Nacional. Here he made close interactions with political figures of Cuba and other celebrities from America like Frank Sinatra. A member of the Cuban legislature, Indalecio Pertierra and Havana’s club of Jockey manager ensured his securing of legal residency in the country of Cuba by the usage of their influence. He later set up an airline with the aid of several others. It was through his close relationships with high-ranking Cubans that he was able to bring in twelve gangsters operating from the USA to give a hand in managing his casino Nacional interests. He also remained close to his childhood friend Meyer Lansky who also happened to be a business partner. His other close partners were Benjamin Siegel and Frank Costello, who were also popular in the USA organized crime. They frequently called in on Luciano on the Cuban island. Demsey Jack, a former champion in the heavyweight category boxing in the world also had dealings of business with Luciano. This involved some $50,000 investment in the popular Gran Casino Nacional. Another of this business partners in casinos is the Al Capone’s brother, Ralph Capone. New York mob members were reported to be transporting money to Havana to aid Luciano according to the reports by FBN (Federal Bureau of Narcotics). Bribes exchanged hands to facilitate business dealings. For instance, Alsina was believed to have enhanced Luciano’s connection to president Batista who would in turn arrange both business dealings and contacts. Just two days prior to the 1946’s Christmas holidays, the powerful most of the US leaders of mafia came to Havana for a meeting. The venue of this undertaking was Hotel Nacional and the main agenda was to agree or consent on the profits’ sharing from their casino business. A related matter was also discussed over concerning the Flamingo Hotel’s construction and a casino in the US. (Las Vegas). 8(Rovner and Davidson, 2009 pp65-67) According to the book by Sainsbury, Lansky and Luciano a notorious mafia leader, met in 1946, where he coordinated the biggest get together of all mafia groups in America of all time. They met under the cover of a concert by Frank Sinatara. Their plan this time round was believed to be the opening up of Havana for pornography, narcotics and gambling houses in large-scale. These two mafia leaders basked under the support offered by president Batista. The plan of 1946 did not realize its fruits until 1952 when Batista succeeded in overthrowing Caros Socarras and following which he aided in the making and enacted laws which made allowed the organized crime in Havana. Over the following eight years Havana became a vice Mecca and gambling to compete Las Vegas. It was a place where “anything was possible.” However, Fidel Castro’s success took these mafia dons by surprise and it led to the closure of casinos triggering the packing off of high spenders like tourists. They went back to Florida. All the mafia leaders were out of Cuba by June in 1959. They were reported to have retreated back to the USA. The era of high gambling was over.9 (Sainsbury, 2006 p123) Havana City Turned into a City of Casinos and the Crime Going Tandem Fernanadez describes the city of Havana as “an unnamable feast” to befit its era of mobsters during the years of thriving casino businesses. A period of repression as well as rebellion hit this city before the revolution by Castro and his supporters. This as he writes was as a result of an illegitimate government that had harbored relationships that were corrupt with mobsters. Books, novels, and films have been acted to portray those days’ city of Havana. Gangsters, who originated from the USA, put up businesses in the city of Havana headed by Meyer Lansky and with the support of the dictator president Batista. While working from from Havana they were assured of immunity from the laws of the US and some cautious gangsters like Lansky had posed as mere administrators. It is believed that the organized crime in the US was organized in the city of Havana. The government which is described as a de facto type of government was the essential first step towards staging a well performing international empire. It was run for the rest of the period after the set up until the Cuban revolution came to wreck the whole plan. These casinos were especially associated with the rampant government corruption. The revolution in Cuba led to the ransacking of the whole casino system as well as its closure. These gangsters were never to make a recovery afterwards. As he continues to write, Fernandez recognizes the ‘Havana mob’ to be a composition of Meyer Lansky, Santo Trafficante. Trafficante was particularly notable as the most experienced courtesy of his prowess gained from the Cuban and Spanish cultures. The mob also was with the inclusion of key government figures and overall the president himself. The bad deeds of the mob were put into a halt by its downfall.10 (Fernandez, 2008) As a result of organized crime activities in Cuba before the communist revolution investments in the US securities of the capital of Cuba were amounting to approximately $30 million in the early 1930s. They rose to $42 million in the year 1941. Money that was deposited in the US banks from the Cuban capital was $79 million in the year 1942. Of the deposits, the amount deposited to the US banks independently was about $39 million in year 1939 and this was swollen to $260 million by 1950. The flight of Cuban private capital to the USA escalated to around $150 million in mid 1950s. By the year 1950 there were investments by Cubans in the US real estate business amounting to around $100 million. Passive accounts’ income in the banks of US was $58 million and the buildings’ investments were about $70 million. Most of the money that was later brought back to the US was devoted to such illicit activities as gambling. An investigation was done in the USA Central Economic Board in the year 1958 and the result of their findings were that approximately 26,710 persons formed the group of proprietors of such illegal games as mentioned earlier. These individuals were also players in the organized activities of gambling in the USA coupled with Cuba. A notorious police chief of the Batista government by the name Rafael Canizares usually received $25,000 in form of proceeds daily in his office originating from gambling houses and brothels. A group in the US better known as bourgeoisies played a very vital role in the business by the US mafia while exploiting gambling deals and luxury hotels established in the city of Havana in 1950s. Though all the while money was constantly moving between the US and Cuba, no salaries were hiked nor were there any new jobs created. 11(Ibara, 1998 p 52) Conclusion While concluding this study, it is good to note that this business of casinos or organized crime in Cuba was concentrated in Havana city. It also was a task of few individuals with Meyer Lansky being the leader of the whole group and the deputy being Lucky Luciano. Another notable player was Santo Trafficante among others. All these mobsters originated from the US and were supported by the corrupt dictatorship of president Batista. Later on it was the communist revolution by Fidel Castro that led to the diminishing of the casino business when he (Castro) closed all the casinos in Havana and kicked out the gangsters. These gangsters were never to recover again. This is while ansering the study question, “To what extent did organized crime utilize casinos to control the nation of Cuba prior to the communist revolution?” Work cited: Cubaheritage.org. Meyer Lansky: The Mafia Mastermind in Havana. (2009). Retrieved September 29, 2009 http://www.cubaheritage.org/articles.asp?lID=1&artID=222 Fernandez, Enrique. T.J. English's look at gangsters, gamblers and glamorous celebrities in Havana before Castro*. (2008). Retrieved September 30, 2009 http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/books/chi-t.j._english- 05jul05,0,1459290.story Ibarra, Jorge. Prologue to revolution: Cuba, 1898-1958. Lynne Rienner Publishers. (1998). p52. Paterson, Thomas G. Contesting Castro: The United States and the Triumph of the Cuban Revolution. Oxford University Press US. Edition reprint, illustrated. (1995). p55. Reyes, Jose. Batista the "Mafioso". (2004). Retrieved September 29, 2009 http://cubanology.com/Articles/Batista_the_Mafioso_and_Castro_the_Pimp.htm Rovner, Eduardo Sáenz and Davidson, Russ. The Cuban Connection: Drug Trafficking, Smuggling, and Gambling in Cuba from the 1920s to the Revolution. UNC Press. Edition illustrated. (2009). pp 65-67. Sainsbury, Brendan. Cuba. Lonely Planet. Edition 4, illustrated. (2006). p 123. Salinger, Lawrence M. Encyclopedia of White-Collar and Corporate Crime, Volume 1. SAGE. Edition illustrated. (2005). p 234. Schwartz, Rosalie. Pleasure Island: Tourism and Temptation in Cuba. U of Nebraska Press. Edition illustrated. (1999). p 100,101. sexton, Luis. A Forgotten Story: The Mafia In Cuba Luis Sexto. (2005). Retrieved September 29, 2009 http://www.cubanow.net/pages/loader.php?sec=7&t=2&item=3623 spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk. Santo Trafficante. (2009). Retrieved September 29, 2009 http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKtrafficante.htm Staten Clifford L. The history of Cuba. Greenwood Publishing Group. Edition illustrated. (2003). p 82. Read More