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1953: High summer in Cuba and Havana gleams with possibility.
Havana
What you need to know before your trail
Havana is a lucrative paradise for everyone from the Mafia and United Fruit to pimps, porn-makers, and anyone looking to grab a piece of the action.
The Caribbean is fast becoming a strategic Cold War hub, and Soviet intelligence has taken a certain Fidel Castro under its wing. Castro is a young revolutionary who is keen to fight and protect his country and lead it onto the world stage.
However, the CIA’s response is to send the one man capable of eliminating Castro: the legendary gunfighter and ex-Marine hero Earl Swagger
Travel Guide
Cuba – Santiago and Havana
In order to research the landscape and history of Cuba, the author mentions that he was driven around the city with a translator friend (the best kind) in a thirteen year old Lada. They traveled to Hemingway’s house, to the Sevilla- Biltmore and the Nacionale.
It was the sign near to where the Teatro Shanghai used to be that amused him though – the sign said “Cubans United for the Revolution” . “As if they had a choice he states”
Havana in 1953 was complex and full of temptation as much as danger. The president Batista has come to office via a coup so the political landscape is dangerous and unstable. Many Cubans and outsiders are racing to get their piece of the action. Americans especially are trying to gain financially from the changes taking place and the vacuum which seems to have opened up in many areas. American mob boss Meyer Lansky, Batista’s friend of more than thirty years, is at the centre of the so-called ‘ negotiations’
Cuba is the fighting ground, the battle field on the world stage.
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: Havana
Author/Guide Stephen Hunter Destination: Havana Departure Time: 1950s
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