Former lansky bodyguard tells of Cuba's fabled past as playground

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Mon, Feb. 07, 2005


Former lansky bodyguard tells of Cuba's fabled past as playground

ANDREA RODRIGUEZ
Associated Press


HAVANA - The former Cuban bodyguard of American mobster Meyer Lansky appeared Monday for the presentation of a new Spanish-language book about the island's legendary past as a haven for U.S. gangsters and their casinos before the Cuban revolution.

"All is told in the book," former bodyguard Armando Jaime Casielles, now 73, said at the International Book Fair of Havana, which runs through Sunday.

In the "La vida secreta de Meyer Lansky en La Habana," or "The Secret Life of Meyer Lansky in Havana," Casielles narrates to Cuban writer Enrique Cirules his experiences as the mobster's sidekick from 1957 to early 1959, shortly after the triumph of the Cuban revolution.

"This book recalls a piece of our country's history," said Cirules. "They wanted to convert Havana into a world paradise of gambling, drugs and sex."
(snip/...)

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/10840470.htm



Meyer Lansky

[whistle]

1. And Fidel Castro kicked the mafia out and confiscated all....

...of their assets in Cuba. So naturally, the mafia has been pissed with Castro ever since. When Bush takes care of the middle east, he will have the marines take back Cuba for the mafia and then the republicans will have their world paradise of gambling, drugs and sex back.

[leveymg]

4. What Comes to Havana Stays In Havana

That includes Fidel. That was part of the deal between JFK and Nikita that prevented WWIII.

The Marines are welcome, so long as they bring Visa, MasterCard, or American Express.

[AP]

6. Either that, or, for the sugar barons in Florida, they will continue the

status quo so that Cuba can't add its sugar to the marketplace, thus lowering prices for sugar worldwide. Or maybe they'll make sure that US sugar companies get the first crack at buying Cuban sugar companies.

[Vogon_Glory]

8. Actually, I Suspect that The Florida Want

Actually, I suspect that if the Florida sugar barons got their wish list, they'd probably quickly phase out their Florida operations in favor of growing the stuff in Cuba. After all, many of the current sugar barons are either Cuban expatriates or those expatriates' offspring.

Personally, the only way I can see the sugar market take off again would be if some clever soul finds a way to make a very low pollution micro-fuel cell that runs on molasses.

[indigobusiness]

9. Rum, not molasses. You could power cars with 150 proof rum...today.

I like the sound of that.

[whistle]

10. Make it 180 proof so that cars will purrrrrrr......

[Cooley Hurd]

2. One of my favorite parts of GF2 (re: Cuba and the Mob in 1959)

MICHAEL: I saw an interesting thing happen today. A rebel was being arrested by the military police, and rather than be taken alive, he exploded a grenade he had hidden in his jacket. He killed himself, and took a captain of the command with him.


JOHNNY OLA: Those rebels, you know, they're lunatics.

MICHAEL: Maybe so -- but it occurred to me. The soldiers are paid to fight -- the rebels aren't.

ROTH: What does that tell you?

MICHAEL: They can win.

[anarchy1999]

3. We should pay attention to the history of Cuba.

n/t and eom

I'm sorry, it really is all of history, our real history, we should all be paying special attention to, right now. There is no time to waste.

Just think about your kids and their kids. You need not go any further.

[PDittie]

5. Five years after Castro is gone

it will be just like Cancun.

[Vogon_Glory]

7. It'll Never Be The Same

Since our own universally-beloved and admired leader and his Banana Republican followers decided to make it harder than ever for Anglo-Americans to visit Forbidden Island and has demonstrated to the Cuban exile community just how much he really does admire the ties of family, I've been poking my head in other places in the Caribean.

I've a hot flash for those kleptocrats pining for the good old days. The days of Havana as a high-roller's gambling Mecca are over and done with forever.

I very recently had an eye-opening visit to San Juan. I suspect that most of whatever could be done in old Havana circa 1957 could be done just as easily in San Juan or other places in the Caribbean, and with some connections, cash, and a few discreet phone calls, much of the rest could be done, too.

Even if Moses, Elijah, and Jesus came down from Heaven and told Gee Dubya and Tom DeLay to end the embargo and travel restrictions tomorrow, I very much doubt that the high rollers will alter their vacation plans and head to Havana or Varadero to gamble (illegal in socialist Cuba, anyway) instead of heading to casinos elsewhere in the Caribbean.