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1980s: A missing friend in Havana reveals a hidden past
Havana Blue
What you need to know before your trail
Lieutenant Mario Conde has the hang over of all hangovers. Well it has just been New Year and the middle of a weekend. Despite this, he’s called in to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Rafael Morin, a high-level business manager in the Cuban nomenklatura. Conde remembered Morin from their student days he was a good-looking guy, a “reliable comrade” who always got what he wanted, including Tamara the girl Conde was after.
Rafael Morin is the example of a boy done good – a boy who rose from a poor barrio to have a picture perfect life – until he disappears. But is everything as it seems?
Mario starts to investigate and as he does so, wanders through a decaying but adored Havana, and thinks back to what life used to promise here and how things turned out.
Travel Guide
Havana
Conde is a man on a mission and in Havana, that is no easy task
A high level business man has gone missing, a friend, but the fact of who he is plays a huge role in the police investigation. Cuba society is unlike any other in that it is heavily controlled by party politics and infiltrated by corruption, fraud and anything else those at the top can think of.
Being a policeman or investigator of any kind in this type of society must be tough and Conde has his hands tied behind his back on many an occasion. Being seen to be critical of the regime in any way or getting too close to the truth could sign your death warrant.
This is the Cuba where the US embargo still rankles and where the remnants of the political past still hang on for grim death.
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: Havana Blue
Author/Guide: Leonardo Padura Destination: Havana Departure Time: 1980s
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