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109-696: The Habana Hilton was constructed at a cost of $ 24 million, under the personal auspices of President Fulgencio Batista . It was built as an investment by the Caja de Retiro y Asistencia Social de los Trabajadores Gastronomicos, the pension plan of the Cuban catering workers' union, with additional financing from the Banco de Fomento Agricola e Industrial de Cuba (BANFAIC). It was operated by the American Hilton Hotels International group and

218-677: A Mafia syndicate which owned many Cuban hotels and casinos. As one of the most powerful mobsters in the US, Trafficante was invited to the Havana Conference in December 1946. Trafficante was arrested frequently throughout the 1950s on various charges of bribery and of running illegal bolita lotteries in Tampa's Ybor City district. He escaped conviction all but once, receiving a five-year sentence for bribery in 1954, but his conviction

327-480: A military coup against President Carlos Prío Socarrás that pre-empted the election. Back in power and receiving financial, military and logistical support from the United States government , Batista suspended the 1940 Constitution and revoked most political liberties, including the right to strike . He then aligned with the wealthiest landowners who owned the largest sugar plantations, and presided over

436-562: A 10-year tax exemption, and waive duties on imported equipment and furnishings for new hotels. Each casino would pay the government $ 250,000 for the license, plus a percentage of the profits. The policy omitted background checks, as required for casino operations in the United States, which opened the door for casino investors with illegally obtained funds. Cuban contractors with the right connections made windfalls by importing, duty-free, more materials than needed for new hotels and selling

545-469: A 12-story glass wonder." He said that Trafficante complained about the honesty of the Kennedys and their "attacks" on Jimmy Hoffa and other associates. According to Aleman, when he told Trafficante that President John F. Kennedy would likely be re-elected, Trafficante replied, "No, Jose, he is going to be hit." Aleman claimed to have reported Trafficante's comments to his FBI contacts, who "dismissed

654-455: A Batista. In the registration records of the Banes courthouse, he was legally Rubén Zaldívar until 1939, when he tried to register as a presidential candidate under the name Fulgencio Batista. When it was discovered that no birth certificate existed for a "Fulgencio Batista", he had to postpone his candidacy registration and pay 15,000 pesos to the local judge. Batista was initially educated at

763-508: A PR firm to encourage black Americans to visit the island. The efforts proved unsuccessful, and the Hilton's American operators struggled to keep the hotel open. Hilton Hotels International was forbidden under Cuban labor laws from firing any of the hotel's 670 employees, though the Hilton seldom had more than 100 guests. The Revolutionary government was eventually compelled to guarantee a bank loan of 2 million pesos to Hoteles Hilton de Cuba, S.A.,

872-540: A combination of peaceful protests and guerrilla warfare in both rural and urban areas of Cuba between 1956 and 1958. After almost two years of fighting, rebel forces led by Guevara successfully defeated Batista's forces at the Battle of Santa Clara on New Year's Eve, 1958, effectively collapsing the regime. On January 1, 1959, Batista announced his resignation, fleeing the country to the Dominican Republic under

981-542: A continued tropical paradise for American tourists, as the country desperately needed the revenue, but growing anti-American political rhetoric was already having an impact on bookings at the increasingly empty hotel. On New Year's Eve 1959/1960, Castro hosted an elaborate party in the Pavilion ballroom atop the hotel, designed to promote Cuba to Americans. The party was attended by numerous American journalists and celebrities, including boxer Joe Louis , who had been hired by

1090-671: A friendship and business relationship that flourished for a decade. During a stay at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York in the late 1940s, it was mutually agreed that, in return for kickbacks, Batista would give Lansky and the Mafia control of Havana's racetracks and casinos. After World War II, Luciano was paroled from prison on the condition that he permanently return to Sicily. Luciano secretly moved to Cuba, where he worked to resume control over American Mafia operations. Luciano also ran

1199-402: A hardline communist and fierce friend to Fidel Castro – completely fabricated this figure, among many other fabrications he wrote in the famous section of Bohemia he directed that was called " En Cuba." Fidel Castro later positioned Enrique de la Osa to become director of Bohemia, and forced Miguel Ángel Quevedo into exile. These tactics ultimately failed to quell unrest and instead were

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1308-589: A heart attack in 1973. Batista was born in the town of Veguita , located in the municipality of Banes , Cuba, in 1901 to Belisario Batista Palermo and Carmela Zaldívar González, who had fought in the Cuban War of Independence . He was of Spanish, African, Chinese, and possibly some Taíno descent. Both Batista's parents are believed to have been of mixed race and one may have had Indigenous Caribbean blood. His mother named him Rubén and gave him her last name, Zaldívar. His father did not want to register him as

1417-422: A meeting to discuss a business loan. The HSCA had previously quoted Aleman as stating that he thought Trafficante's use of the phrase "he is going to be hit" meant that the mob boss knew Kennedy was going to be killed. When this was pointed out, Aleman denied that he meant that he believed Kennedy was going to murdered and said he thought that Trafficante meant that Kennedy was going to be "hit" politically during

1526-652: A number of casinos in Cuba with the sanction of Batista, though the American government eventually succeeded in pressuring the Batista government to deport him. Batista encouraged large-scale gambling in Havana. In 1955, he announced that Cuba would grant a gaming license to anyone who invested US$ 1 million in a hotel or $ 200,000 in a new nightclub—and that the government would provide matching public funds for construction,

1635-549: A problem as graduates entering the workforce could not find jobs. These were dealt with through increasing repression. All youth were seen as suspected revolutionaries. Due to its continued opposition to Batista and the large amount of revolutionary activity taking place on its campus, the University of Havana was temporarily closed on November 30, 1956 (it did not reopen until 1959 under the first revolutionary government). On March 13, 1957, student leader José Antonio Echeverría

1744-494: A public school in Banes and later attended night classes at an American Quaker school . He left home at age 14, after the death of his mother. Coming from a humble background, he earned a living as a laborer in the cane fields, docks, and railroads. He was a tailor, mechanic, charcoal vendor and fruit peddler. In 1921, he traveled to Havana, and in April joined the army as a private. After learning shorthand and typing, Batista left

1853-577: A result, the playwright Arthur Miller described Batista's Cuba in The Nation as "hopelessly corrupt, a Mafia playground, (and) a bordello for Americans and other foreigners." In a bid to profit from such an environment, Batista established lasting relationships with organized crime , notably with American mobsters Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano , and under his rule Havana became known as "the Latin Las Vegas ". Batista and Lansky formed

1962-515: A speech by Eusebio Leal , who spearheaded the restoration and conservation of the historic district of Old Havana. In January 1998, the hotel served as the international media headquarters for the Papal visit to Cuba by Pope John Paul II . Journalists including Peter Jennings , Dan Rather , Ted Koppel , Tom Brokaw and Christiane Amanpour reported from and were housed at the hotel. CNN's Ted Turner and his wife, actress Jane Fonda , also visited

2071-485: A stagnating economy that widened the gap between rich and poor Cubans. Eventually, it reached the point where most of the sugar industry was in U.S. hands, and foreigners owned 70% of the arable land. As such, Batista's repressive government then began to systematically profit from the exploitation of Cuba's commercial interests, by negotiating lucrative relationships both with the American Mafia , who controlled

2180-622: A warning to others who were considering joining the insurgency. Additionally, "Hundreds of mangled bodies were left hanging from lamp posts or dumped in the streets in a grotesque variation of the Spanish colonial practice of public executions." The brutal behavior backfired and increased support for the guerrillas. In 1958, 45 organizations signed an open letter supporting July 26 Movement, among them national bodies representing lawyers, architects, dentists, accountants, and social workers. The United States supplied Batista with planes, ships, tanks and

2289-856: A week, 15% to 20% of the labor force was chronically unemployed, and only a third of the homes had running water. Despite this, according to the International Labour Organization , the average industrial salary in Cuba became the world's eighth-highest in 1958, and the average agricultural wage was higher than some European nations (although, according to one sample from 1956 to 1957, agricultural workers could only find employment for an average of 123 days per year while farm owners, rural tenants and sharecroppers worked an average of only 135 days per year). Brothels flourished. A major industry grew up around them; government officials received bribes, policemen collected protection money. Prostitutes could be seen standing in doorways, strolling

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2398-455: A year to a group consisting of Roberto "Chiri" Mendoza, his brother Mario Mendoza, Clifford "Big Juice" Jones , Kenneth F. Johnson, and Sidney Orseck. Roberto Mendoza was a wealthy Cuban contractor and sugar planter who was a business associate of President Batista ; Mario Mendoza was a lawyer; Orseck was an attorney from New York; Johnson was a senator in the Nevada state legislature and Jones

2507-664: Is afraid of retaliation. The other guys are two doctors, who say they'll testify if they're summoned to court." In his book Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy , Vincent Bugliosi has claimed there to be many flaws in Ragano's claims, including his own claim that Trafficante was most likely not in Tampa on the day in question, but was rather in North Miami Beach, Florida , receiving dialysis treatments. In 2005, Lamar Waldron and Thom Hartmann 's book Ultimate Sacrifice said that Trafficante

2616-553: Is as though Batista was the incarnation of a number of sins on the part of the United States. Now we shall have to pay for those sins. In the matter of the Batista regime, I am in agreement with the first Cuban revolutionaries. That is perfectly clear. On July 26, 1953, just over a year after Batista's second coup, a small group of revolutionaries attacked the Moncada Barracks in Santiago . Government forces easily defeated

2725-529: The Apalachin meeting in Apalachin , New York . All were fined, up to $ 10,000 each, and given prison sentences ranging from three to five years. All the convictions were overturned on appeal in 1960. Cuba was one of the Apalachin topics of discussion, particularly the gambling and narcotics smuggling interests of La Cosa Nostra on the island. The international narcotics trade was also an important topic on

2834-456: The Isle of Pines , while some officers were sentenced to death for treason. Many others were allowed to remain in the military without reprimand. The purge of the officer corps contributed to the inability of the Cuban army to successfully combat Castro and his guerrillas. Batista's police responded to increasing popular unrest by torturing and killing young men in the cities. However, his army

2943-524: The Sergeants' Revolt , as part of the coup that overthrew the government of Gerardo Machado . Machado was succeeded by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada , who lacked a political coalition that could sustain him and was soon replaced. A short-lived five-member presidency, known as the Pentarchy of 1933 , was established. The Pentarchy included a representative from each anti-Machado faction. Batista

3052-602: The United States House Select Committee on Assassinations in 1978, and vehemently denied allegations that he had knowledge of a plot to assassinate President John F. Kennedy . Federal investigators brought racketeering and conspiracy charges against him in the summer of 1986. Trafficante was born in Tampa, Florida , to Sicilian parents Santo Trafficante Sr. and his wife Maria Giuseppa Cacciatore in 1914. He dropped out of high school before

3161-709: The " Family Jewels " documents. The "Family Jewels" confirmed that in September 1960, the CIA recruited ex- FBI agent Robert Maheu to approach the West Coast representative of the Chicago mob , Johnny Roselli . Maheu hid that he was sent by the CIA, instead portraying himself an advocate for international corporations. He offered to pay $ 150,000 to have Castro killed, but Roselli declined any pay and introduced Maheu to two men he referred to as "Sam Gold" and "Joe." "Sam Gold"

3270-586: The 10th grade. Trafficante maintained several residences in New York City and Florida . U.S. Treasury Department documents indicate that law enforcement believed Trafficante's legitimate business interests to include several legal casinos in Cuba ; a Havana drive-in movie theater ; and shares in several restaurants and bars in Trafficante's hometown of Tampa, Florida . He was rumored to be part of

3379-579: The Apalachin agenda. In January 1958, Trafficante was questioned by the Cuban police regarding the Apalachin meeting. A full report was made by the Cuban police, dated January 23, 1958, includes transcripts of long-distance telephone calls made from the Sans Souci during the period August–December 1957. The report was given to the District Attorney 's office. In addition, "on January 23, 1958

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3488-515: The Batista dictatorship" and "completely failed to advance the economic welfare of the Cuban people". Such actions later "enabled Castro and the Communists to encourage the growing belief that America was indifferent to Cuban aspirations for a decent life." According to historian and author James S. Olson , the U.S. government essentially became a "co-conspirator" in the arrangement because of Batista's strong opposition to communism, which, in

3597-1010: The Casino International gambling establishments in Havana. As a leading member of the syndicate, he also was suspected of having behind-the-scenes interests in other syndicate-owned Cuban casinos: the Hotel Habana Riviera , the Tropicana Club , the Sevilla-Biltmore , the Capri Hotel Casino , the Commodoro, the Deauville, and the Havana Hilton . Trafficante was apprehended in November 1957, along with over 60 other mobsters, at

3706-613: The Chicago meeting in 1932. Lansky set about cleaning up the games at the Montmartre Club, which soon became the "place to be" in Havana. He also wanted to open a casino in the Hotel Nacional, the most elegant hotel in Havana. Batista endorsed Lansky's idea over the objections of American expatriates such as Ernest Hemingway , and the renovated casino wing opened for business in 1955 with a show by Eartha Kitt . The casino

3815-522: The Cuban Department of Investigation, Havana, Cuba notified the Bureau of Narcotics that Santo Trafficante was registered in their Alien Office under No. 93461." After Fidel Castro 's revolutionary government seized the assets of Trafficante's Cuban businesses and expelled him from the country as an "undesirable alien," Trafficante came into contact with various US intelligence operatives, and

3924-561: The Cuban Revolutionary Party, participated through the political campaign but withdrew from the campaign days before election day, charging that his supporters had been terrorized. Thus Batista was elected president with the support of 45.6% of registered voters. Despite the boycott, Grau received the support of 6.8% of those who voted. The remaining voters abstained. By late 1955, student riots and anti-Batista demonstrations had become frequent, and unemployment became

4033-488: The Cuban subsidiary of Hilton Hotels International that operated the hotel, to cover the Habana Hilton's operating expenses, and keep its employees working. In January 1960, Castro is reported to have survived a dramatic assassination attempt at the hotel. Castro's American mistress, Marita Lorenz , had lived with him in the hotel for much of 1959, before returning to the United States, allegedly after an abortion. In

4142-511: The Eisenhower administration for supporting him. “I loved Havana and was horrified by the way this lovely city had unfortunately been transformed into a huge casino and brothel for American businessmen […]. My fellow countrymen walked the streets, picked up fourteen-year-old Cuban girls and threw coins just for the pleasure of watching men roll around in the sewers and picking them up. One wondered how Cubans – seeing this reality – could regard

4251-453: The Hilton meant to Batista: “Batista considered the Habana Hilton among his proudest achievements, its huge blue-lit rooftop ‘Hilton’ name announcing to the world that the eminent Conrad Hilton had confidence in Cuba’s future – that the country was a safe place in which to invest – and that tourists could now find in Havana the modern comforts they expected in a top international resort.” When it

4360-405: The Hotel Nacional, the Montmartre Club, and others—was said to be 30%. Lansky was said to have personally contributed millions of dollars per year to Batista's Swiss bank accounts. At the beginning of 1959 United States companies owned about 40 percent of the Cuban sugar lands—almost all the cattle ranches—90 percent of the mines and mineral concessions—80 percent of the utilities—practically all

4469-801: The Kennedy warnings as gangland braggadocio." In 1978, both Trafficante and Aleman were called to testify before members of the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations investigating possible links between Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald and anti-Castro Cubans, including the theory that Castro had Kennedy killed in retaliation for the CIA's attempts on his own life . On September 27, 1978, Aleman reiterated to HSCA investigators that Trafficante had complained to him for hours in June or July 1963 about Kennedy's crackdown on organized crime at

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4578-622: The Progressive Action Party, but he never regained his former popular support, though the unions supported him until the end. In 1952, Batista again ran for president. In a three-way race, Roberto Agramonte of the Orthodox Party led in all the polls, followed by Carlos Hevia of the Authentic Party . Batista's United Action coalition was running a distant third. On March 10, 1952, three months before

4687-585: The Treasury is in full swing with the result that Dr. Grau will probably find empty coffers when he takes office on October 10. It is blatant that President Batista desires that Dr. Grau San Martin should assume obligations which in fairness and equity should be a matter of settlement by the present Administration. Shortly after, Batista left Cuba for the United States. "I just felt safer there," he said. He divorced his wife, Elisa Godínez , and married Marta Fernández in 1945. Two of their four children were born in

4796-602: The U.S. envoy Sumner Welles , forced him to resign in January 1934. Grau was replaced by Carlos Mendieta , and within five days the U.S. recognized Cuba's new government, which lasted eleven months. Batista then became the strongman behind a succession of puppet presidents until he was elected president in 1940. After Mendieta, succeeding governments were led by José Agripino Barnet (five months) and Miguel Mariano Gómez (seven months) before Federico Laredo Brú ruled from December 1936 to October 1940. Batista defeated Grau in

4905-456: The US Mafia and the CIA. Cuban intelligence chief Fabian Escalante claimed that a poison pill was to have been slipped into one of the chocolate milkshakes Castro regularly ordered in the hotel's cafeteria, and that Castro was saved only because the pill became stuck to the hotel's kitchen freezer that it was hidden in, and that the pill broke open as the would-be assassin tried to remove it from

5014-484: The US, she claims she was approached by agents linked to the US Mafia and the CIA, who gave her Botulinum toxin pills. She smuggled the pills back into Cuba, intending to drop them into Castro's drink, killing him within thirty seconds. Lorenz said she had a change of heart on returning to the hotel, only to then discover that the plan was a failure, as the pills had dissolved in the container of cold cream she had hidden them in. She said that Castro then revealed he knew she

5123-584: The United States in any other way than with hatred.” I believe that there is no country in the world including any and all the countries under colonial domination, where economic colonization, humiliation and exploitation were worse than in Cuba, in part owing to my country's policies during the Batista regime. I approved the proclamation which Fidel Castro made in the Sierra Maestra, when he justifiably called for justice and especially yearned to rid Cuba of corruption. I will even go further: to some extent it

5232-708: The United States. For the next eight years, Batista remained in the background, spending time in the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City and a home in Daytona Beach, Florida. He continued to participate in Cuban politics and was elected to the Cuban Senate in absentia in 1948. Returning to Cuba, he decided to run for president and received permission from President Grau, whereupon he formed the United Action Party. On taking power he founded

5341-486: The United States. Believing Barquín would support his rule, Batista promoted him to General. However, Barquín's Conspiración de los Puros (Conspiracy of the Pure) was already underway and had already progressed too far. On April 6, 1956, Barquín led hundreds of career officers in a coup attempt, but was frustrated by Lieutenant Ríos Morejón, who betrayed the plan. Barquín was sentenced to solitary confinement for eight years on

5450-494: The armed forces, with the rank of colonel, and effectively controlled the five-member "pentarchy" that functioned as the collective head of state. He maintained control through a series of puppet presidents until 1940, when he was elected president on a populist platform. He then instated the 1940 Constitution of Cuba and served until 1944. After finishing his term, Batista moved to Florida, returning to Cuba to run for president in 1952. Facing certain electoral defeat, he led

5559-546: The army in 1923, working briefly as a teacher of stenography before enlisting in the Guardia Rural ( rural police ). He transferred back to the army as a corporal, becoming secretary to a regimental colonel. In September 1933, he held the rank of sergeant stenographer and as such acted as the secretary of a group of non-commissioned officers who led a "sergeants' conspiracy" for better conditions and improved prospects of promotion. In 1933, Batista led an uprising called

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5668-557: The assault and jailed its leaders, while many others fled the country. The primary leader of the attack, Fidel Castro , was a young attorney who had run for parliament in the canceled 1952 elections. Although Castro was never officially nominated, he felt that Batista's coup had sidetracked what would have been a promising political career for him. In the wake of the Moncada assault, Batista suspended constitutional guarantees and increasingly relied on police tactics in an attempt to "frighten

5777-503: The assessment of the Cuban-American historian Louis Perez, "Havana was then what Las Vegas has become." Relatedly, it is estimated that by the end of the 1950s the city of Havana had 270 brothels. In addition, drugs, be it marijuana or cocaine, were so plentiful at the time that one American magazine in 1950 proclaimed "Narcotics are hardly more difficult to obtain in Cuba than a shot of rum. And only slightly more expensive." As

5886-497: The book On Becoming Cuban , "Daily life had developed into a relentless degradation, with the complicity of political leaders and public officials who operated at the behest of American interests." As a symbol of this relationship, ITT Corporation , an American-owned multinational telephone company, presented Batista with a Golden Telephone , as an "expression of gratitude" for the "excessive telephone rate increase", at least according to Senator John F. Kennedy, that Batista granted at

5995-462: The brutality of the police, the government's indifference to the needs of the people for education, medical care, housing, for social justice and economic justice ... is an open invitation to revolution. Upon his seizure of power, Batista inherited a country that was relatively prosperous for Latin America. According to Batista's government, although a third of Cubans still lived in poverty, Cuba

6104-408: The catalyst for more widespread resistance. For two years (December 1956 – December 1958) Fidel Castro 's 26th of July Movement and other rebelling elements led an urban- and rural-based guerrilla uprising against Batista's government, which culminated in his eventual defeat by rebels under the command of Che Guevara at the Battle of Santa Clara on New Year's Day 1959. Batista immediately fled

6213-626: The city were briefly closed, but protests by Havana casino workers led to their reopening in February. Castro gave his first press conference in the hotel's ballroom on January 19, 1959 and soon took to giving regular interviews to international journalists in the hotel, famously declaring in the lobby that "If the Americans don’t like what is happening in Cuba, they can land the Marines, and then there will be 200,000 gringos dead." On June 21, 1959,

6322-724: The claim two days later on ABC 's Good Morning America , in Newfield's Frontline report entitled JFK, Hoffa and Mob broadcast in November 1992, and again in his 1994 autobiography Mob Lawyer . According to Ragano, he met Hoffa at the Teamsters' headquarters in Washington, DC , then delivered the message to Trafficante and Marcello in a meeting at the Royal Orleans Hotel in New Orleans . He stated he

6431-408: The collapse of the Soviet Union, the Cuban government focused on rebuilding the tourism industry. In 1993, they brought in the Spanish Guitart Hotels chain to manage the property as the Hotel Habana Libre Guitart . Then, in 1996 the Spanish Sol Meliá chain assumed management of the hotel from Guitart. It was placed in their Tryp division of urban hotels and renamed Hotel Tryp Habana Libre . The hotel

6540-410: The conference, and made the suite his home thereafter for all major diplomatic events. The suite is now kept as a museum, with all the original furniture and artwork from 1958. From October 23 to November 20, 1966, the Habana Libre hosted the 17th Chess Olympiad , with guests including Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky . In 1967, the hotel hosted Marxist Chilean politician Salvador Allende . Following

6649-580: The drug, gambling, and prostitution businesses in Havana, and with large U.S.-based multinational companies who were awarded lucrative contracts. To quell the growing discontent amongst the populace—which was subsequently displayed through frequent student riots and demonstrations—Batista established tighter censorship of the media, while also utilizing his Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities secret police to carry out wide-scale violence, torture and public executions. These murders mounted in 1957, as socialist ideas became more influential. While

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6758-405: The elections, Batista, with army backing, staged a coup and seized power . He ousted outgoing President Carlos Prío Socarrás , canceled the elections and took control of the government as a provisional president. The United States recognized his government on March 27. When asked by the U.S. government to analyze Batista's Cuba, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. said: The corruption of the Government,

6867-408: The electoralists sought certain rights and guarantees to participate. The CIA had predicted that Batista would use any means necessary to ensure he won the election. Batista lived up to their expectations, utilizing fraud and intimidation to secure his presidency. This led most of the other parties to boycott the elections. Former President Ramón Grau San Martín , leading the electoralist factions of

6976-400: The exact numbers are unclear, it's believed the death toll is ranged between hundreds to up to 20,000. Batista's efforts to quell the unrest proved not only ineffective, but his tactics were the catalyst to even wider resistance against his regime. During this time, revolutionary leaders Fidel Castro and Che Guevara , founders of the July 26th Movement began a resistance campaign that saw

7085-438: The first presidential election (1940) under the new Cuban constitution , and served a four-year term as President of Cuba, the first and to this day only non-white Cuban in that office. Batista was endorsed by the Democratic Socialist Coalition and the original Cuban Communist Party (later known as the Popular Socialist Party ), which at the time had little significance and no probability of an electoral victory. This support

7194-429: The hotel at the time. On February 4, 2013, French daredevil Alain Robert , known as The French Spider-Man , climbed the hotel without ropes or a safety net, as is his custom, watched by hundreds of onlookers. Fulgencio Batista President of Cuba Government First Second Legacy Political Career Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (born Rubén Zaldívar ; January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973)

7303-447: The hotel's opening year, Hilton's annual report stated that the previously profitable Hilton Hotels International division "made no contribution to 1958 earnings" due directly to significant financial losses the Habana Hilton experienced. Following Fidel Castro 's entry into Havana on January 8, 1959, the hotel became his headquarters, with Castro residing for three months in the hotel's Continental Suite, room 2324. The casinos throughout

7412-405: The ice. Escalante called it "the closest the CIA got to assassinating Fidel." In 1964, Soviet female cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova , the first woman in space, gave a press conference at the hotel. From January 3-12, 1966, the Habana Libre hosted the first Tricontinental Conference of Asian, African and Latin-American peoples. Fidel Castro stayed in the hotel's Castellana Suite, room 2224, during

7521-421: The island with an amassed personal fortune to the Dominican Republic , where strongman and previous military ally Rafael Trujillo held power. Batista eventually found political asylum in António Salazar 's Portugal , where he first lived on the island of Madeira and then in Estoril . He was involved in business activities in Francoist Spain and was staying there in Marbella at the time of his death from

7630-411: The late 1940s under his father, Santo Trafficante Sr., a mobster in Tampa, Florida. After his father died in 1954, he became the head in Tampa and took over his fathers interests in Cuba. Trafficante moved to Cuba in 1955, where he came into contact with Batista and Meyer Lansky . During the rule of Cuba's authoritarian dictator Fulgencio Batista , Trafficante openly operated the Sans Souci Cabaret and

7739-456: The latest technology, such as napalm , which he used against the insurgency. However, in March 1958, the U.S. announced it would stop selling arms to the Cuban government. Soon after, the U.S. imposed an arms embargo, further weakening the government's position, although landowners and others who benefited from the government continued to support Batista. Santo Trafficante Jr. Santo Trafficante Jr. (November 15, 1914 – March 17, 1987)

7848-423: The most important Cuban modern artists of the day, including an enormous mosaic mural by Amelia Peláez over the main entrance and a tiled wall mural by René Portocarrero in the second-floor Antilles Bar overlooking the pool terrace. The Habana Hilton opened with five days of festivities, from March 19-23, 1958, with Conrad Hilton himself in attendance, accompanied by actress Ann Miller , who regularly traveled

7957-503: The most powerful organized crime figure in Florida throughout much of the 20th century, Trafficante was not believed to have total control over Miami , Miami Beach , Ft. Lauderdale , or Palm Beach . The east coast of Florida was a loosely knit conglomerate of New York family interests with links to Meyer Lansky , Bugsy Siegel , Angelo Bruno , Carlos Marcello , and Frank Ragano . Trafficante admitted his anti- Castro activities to

8066-587: The next election. He stated that he was concerned for his safety and was not certain that he had ever correctly heard or understood Trafficante's comment. After a grant of immunity from prosecution , Trafficante testified before the HSCA the following day, September 28, and denied the allegation that he told Aleman that "Kennedy was going to be hit." He stated that he was positive that he did not say it because he always spoke to Aleman in Spanish , and said that there

8175-532: The oil industry—and supplied two-thirds of Cuba's imports. In a manner that antagonized the Cuban people, the U.S. government used its influence to advance the interests of and increase the profits of the private American companies, which "dominated the island's economy". By the late 1950s, U.S. financial interests owned 90% of Cuban mines, 80% of its public utilities, 50% of its railways, 40% of its sugar production and 25% of its bank deposits—some $ 1 billion in total. According to historian Louis A. Pérez Jr., author of

8284-546: The population through open displays of brutality." Batista held an election in 1954 , running as the candidate of a political coalition that included the Progressive Action Party, the Radical Union Party and the Liberal Party. The opposition divided into abstentionists and electoralists. The abstentionists favored boycotting the elections regardless of the circumstances in which they were held, whereas

8393-744: The population, and the Soviet Union began to secretly support Castro. Some of Batista's generals also criticized him in later years, saying that Batista's excessive interference in his generals' military plans to defeat the rebels hampered Army morale and rendered all operations ineffective. It is clear that counter-terror became the strategy of the Batista government. It has been estimated that perhaps as many as 20,000 civilians were killed. In an effort to gather information about Castro's army, Batista's secret police pulled in people for questioning. Many innocent people were tortured by Batista's police, while suspects, including youth, were publicly executed as

8502-524: The protection of Rafael Trujillo , before settling in Spain , spending the rest of his life in exile until his death in 1973. People were killed, with estimates ranging from hundreds to a maximum of 20,000, although this high figure is disputed. The figure of 20,000 was first written in Bohemia – the most popular magazine in Cuba – by Enrique de la Osa . Historical consensus maintains that De la Osa –

8611-582: The revolutionary government temporarily released mob boss Santo Trafficante Jr. from the Triscornia prison camp, under guard, so he could attend the wedding of his daughter Mary Jo in the ballroom of the Habana Hilton. In October 1959, the Habana Hilton hosted the week-long American Society of Travel Agents annual international convention, which had been scheduled before the Revolution. Castro and other officials attempted to present an image of Cuba as

8720-461: The rhetoric of the Cold War , seemed to maintain business stability and a pro-U.S. posture on the island. Thus, in the view of Olson, "The U.S. government had no difficulty in dealing with him, even if he was a hopeless despot ." On October 6, 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy , in the midst of his campaign for the U.S. presidency, decried Batista's relationship with the U.S. government and criticized

8829-581: The side of the Allies on December 9, 1941, declaring war on Japan two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. On December 11, the Batista government declared war on Germany and Italy. In December 1942, after a friendly visit to Washington, Batista said Latin America would applaud if the Declaration by United Nations called for war with Francisco Franco 's Spain , calling the regime fascist. In 1944, Batista's handpicked successor, Carlos Saladrigas Zayas ,

8938-609: The streets, or leaning from windows. One report estimated that 11,500 of them worked their trade in Havana. Beyond the outskirts of the capital, beyond the slot machines, was one of the poorest, and most beautiful countries in the Western world. Throughout the 1950s, Havana served as "a hedonistic playground for the world's elite", producing sizable gambling, prostitution and drug profits for the American mafia , corrupt law-enforcement officials, and their politically elected cronies . In

9047-501: The surplus to others. It was rumored that, besides the $ 250,000 to obtain a license, an additional "under the table" fee was sometimes required. Lansky became a prominent figure in Cuba's gambling operations, and exerted influence over Batista's casino policies. The Mafia's Havana Conference was held on December 22, 1946, at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba ; this was the first full-scale meeting of American underworld leaders since

9156-456: The urging of the U.S. government. Earl E.T. Smith , former U.S. Ambassador to Cuba, testified to the U.S. Senate in 1960 that, "Until Castro, the U.S. was so overwhelmingly influential in Cuba that the American ambassador was the second most important man, sometimes even more important than the Cuban president." In addition, nearly "all aid" from the U.S. to Batista's government was in the "form of weapons assistance", which "merely strengthened

9265-519: The world with him for the grand openings of his hotels. Hilton was joined by 300 invited guests, including socialite Virginia Warren, daughter of Chief Justice Earl Warren ; renowned Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper ; actress Terry Moore ; actress Dorothy Johnson ; married radio hosts Tex McCrary and Jinx Falkenburg ; actress Linda Cristal ; dancer Vera-Ellen ; actor Don Murray ; actress Dolores Hart ; ABC network President Leonard Goldenson ; and journalist Leonard Lyons . A formal blessing ceremony

9374-504: Was Sam Giancana ; "Joe" was Trafficante. The CIA and the Mafia had a common enemy in Castro, a communist revolutionary who had shut down Cuba's lucrative casino businesses. In 1976, Cuban exile and FBI informant Jose Aleman told The Washington Post that in September 1962, Trafficante had offered him a loan of $ 1.5 million to replace Aleman's three-story "ramshackle motel with

9483-534: Was a Cuban military officer and politician who was the elected president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944 and military dictator of the country from 1952 until his overthrow in the Cuban Revolution in 1959. Batista initially rose to power as part of the 1933 Revolt of the Sergeants , which overthrew the provisional government of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada . Batista then appointed himself chief of

9592-462: Was a former lieutenant governor of Nevada who had ownership interests in a number of Las Vegas casinos. Hilton officials said that 13 groups tried to lease the casino and 12 were "turned down because they either had underworld connections or had refused to subject themselves to rigid investigation." Speculation surfaced that the murder of Gambino crime family boss Albert Anastasia in October 1957

9701-654: Was among the most powerful Mafia bosses in the United States. He headed the Trafficante crime family from 1954 to 1987 and controlled organized criminal operations in Florida and Cuba , which had previously been consolidated from several rival gangs by his father, Santo Trafficante Sr. Trafficante maintained links to the Bonanno crime family in New York City , but was more closely allied with Sam Giancana in Chicago . Consequently, while generally recognized as

9810-483: Was an immediate success. As the new hotels, nightclubs, and casinos opened, Batista collected his share of the profits. Nightly, the "bagman" for his wife collected 10% of the profits at Santo Trafficante's casinos, the Sans Souci cabaret, and the casinos in the hotels Sevilla-Biltmore, Commodoro, Deauville, and Capri (partly owned by the actor George Raft ). His take from the Lansky casinos—his prized Habana Riviera ,

9919-450: Was behind an aborted plot to kill Kennedy in Tampa on November 18, 1963. Trafficante was summoned to court in 1986 and questioned about his involvement with the King's Court Bottle Club operated by members of the Bonanno crime family , including undercover FBI agent Joseph D. "Joe" Pistone , a.k.a. Donnie Brasco . Trafficante again escaped conviction. On March 17, 1987, Trafficante died at

10028-561: Was brought into the plot by Roselli and Giancana, who had been recruited by Maheu. Trafficante said that he introduced the trio to Cuban exiles in Florida. He stated that he received no payment for his involvement and that he acted out of patriotism. On January 14, 1992, Trafficante's former attorney, Frank Ragano , told Jack Newfield of the New York Post that he relayed a request from Hoffa to Trafficante and New Orleans boss Carlos Marcello to have Kennedy killed. He repeated

10137-529: Was chosen by Hoffa because, as both Hoffa and Trafficante's lawyer, he could be assured of attorney–client privilege . Ragano also claimed that Trafficante, four days prior to his death, delivered a deathbed confession which suggested that Marcello was meant to assassinate Robert F. Kennedy instead of his brother, the President. He claimed three witnesses could support his statement that he met Trafficante in Tampa, but refused to name them, adding: "One guy

10246-445: Was completed, the Habana Hilton was Latin America's tallest and largest hotel. It boasted 630 guest rooms, including 42 suites; an elegant casino; six restaurants and bars, including a Trader Vic's and a rooftop bar; a huge supper club; extensive convention facilities; a shopping arcade; an outdoor pool surrounded by cabanas; and two underground garages with a capacity of 500 cars. The hotel also featured artwork commissioned from some of

10355-404: Was defeated by Grau. In the final months of his presidency, Batista sought to handicap the incoming Grau administration. In a July 17, 1944, dispatch to the U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Ambassador Spruille Braden wrote: It is becoming increasingly apparent that President Batista intends to discomfit the incoming Administration in every way possible, particularly financially. A systematic raid on

10464-717: Was designed by the well-known Los Angeles architect Welton Becket , who had previously designed the Beverly Hilton for the chain. Becket designed the 27-story Habana Hilton in collaboration with Havana-based architects Lin Arroyo and Gabriela Menéndez. Arroyo was the Minister of Public Works under Batista. The hotel was constructed by the Frederick Snare Corporation . The architectural historian Peter Moruzzi, author of Havana Before Castro , notes what

10573-474: Was extensively renovated between 1996 and 1997. Much of the interior was gutted and modernized. The guest rooms were remodeled, with the balconies all glassed in, except those of the historic Castellana Suite. The supper club on the second floor was converted to a buffet restaurant. Among the highlights of the work was the restoration of the huge Peláez mural on the exterior, which had spent decades hidden from public view. The hotel reopened on December 22, 1997, with

10682-419: Was held in the hotel's lobby on March 22, 1958, attended by Cuba's First Lady, Marta Fernandez de Batista ; Francisco Aguirre, head of the catering workers' union; José Suárez Rivas, Minister of Labor; and other dignitaries. The ceremony was followed by a luncheon, with speeches by Hilton and Aguirre, and a huge gala dinner and ball in the hotel's grand ballroom. The casino in the hotel was leased for $ 1 million

10791-553: Was ineffective against the rebels based in the Sierra Maestra and Escambray Mountains . Another possible explanation for the failure to crush the rebellion was offered by author Carlos Alberto Montaner : "Batista does not finish Fidel out of greed ... His is a government of thieves. To have this small guerrilla band in the mountains is to his advantage, so that he can order special defense expenditures that they can steal." Batista's rule became increasingly unpopular among

10900-425: Was involved in several unsuccessful plans to assassinate Castro . In 1975, the CIA declassified a report stating that Trafficante had been persuaded to poison Castro, an allegation he denied. In 1997, further declassified documents indicated that some mafiosi worked with the agency on assassination attempts against Castro. Allusions to these historic connections were confirmed by the CIA's 2007 declassification of

11009-781: Was killed by police outside Radio Reloj in Havana after announcing that Batista had been killed in a student attack on the Presidential Palace. In reality, Batista survived, and the students of the Federation of University Students (FEU) and the Directorio Revolucionario (DR) who led the attack were killed in the response by the military and police. Castro quickly condemned the attack, since July 26 Movement had not participated in it. In April 1956, Batista called popular military leader Col. Ramón Barquín back to Cuba from his post as military attaché to

11118-412: Was no way to state the phrase in Spanish. Trafficante also stated that he had no recollection of meeting Oswald or Oswald's assassin, Jack Ruby . During his testimony, Trafficante also admitted for the first time that he had worked with the CIA from 1960 to 1961 for an attempt to poison Castro but stated that his role was only as an interpreter between CIA officials and Cuban exiles. He testified that he

11227-620: Was not a member, but controlled Cuba's armed forces. Within days, the representative for the students and professors of the University of Havana , Ramón Grau San Martín , was made president—and Batista became the Army Chief of Staff, with the rank of colonel, effectively putting him in control of the presidency. The majority of the commissioned officer corps were forced to retire or, some speculate, were killed. Grau remained president for just over 100 days before Batista, conspiring with

11336-414: Was one of the five most developed countries in the region. In the 1950s, Cuba's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was roughly equal to that of Italy at the time, although still only a sixth of that of the United States. Moreover, although corruption and inequality were rife under Batista, Cuban industrial workers' wages rose significantly. In 1953, the average Cuban family only had an income of $ 6.00

11445-612: Was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court before he entered prison. During the 1950s, Trafficante Jr. maintained a narcotic trafficking network with Tommy Lucchese , the boss of the Lucchese crime family in New York City . Trafficante Jr. had known Lucchese since the 1940s, when his father and Lucchese had trained him in the mafia traditions. Trafficante Jr. would frequently meet with Lucchese in New York City for dinner. Trafficante had been operating in Cuba since

11554-558: Was primarily due to Batista's early advocacy of strengthening labor laws and his support for labor unions , with which the Communists had close ties, as well as the pro-Allied stance in World War II. In fact, Communists attacked the anti-Batista opposition, saying Grau and others were "fascists" and " reactionaries ." During this term in office, Batista carried out major social reforms and established numerous economic regulations and pro-union policies. Cuba entered World War II on

11663-471: Was renaming the hotel the Hotel Habana Libre (Hotel Free Havana). That year, Hilton Hotels International, Inc. wrote off $ 1,854,575 that had been invested in the Cuban subsidiary that operated the hotel. The first Soviet embassy in Havana was soon temporarily established on two floors of the hotel. In March 1963, Castro is reputed to have survived another assassination attempt at the hotel, by

11772-553: Was there to kill him, but that he also knew she couldn't go through with it. Afterwards, she claims they made love in his suite in the hotel, before she returned to the US. The hotel remained in operation as a Hilton while relations between the US and Cuba worsened, until June 11, 1960, when the Cuban government nationalized the property. On June 15, 1960, Castro announced in a speech to the Restaurant and Hotel Workers Federation that he

11881-423: Was tied to his interest in securing an ownership stake in the Hilton's casino. Roberto Mendoza and Santo Trafficante Jr. , who had substantial gambling interests in Cuba, were both in New York at the time of Anastasia's murder. The police investigation of the murder focused on this theory for a while but later looked at other theories. The murder was never solved. As a result of growing political unrest in Cuba in

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