Mafia Influence On Cuban Culture

For my research paper I am examining, “how large of an influence did the Mafia have in Cuba and how did their presence affect Cuban-American relations and pre-existing Cuban Culture?” Ever since I was young I was highly interested in organized crime and the mysteries behind the way that society operated. Interestingly and also not so fortunately the organized crime network hits my family at a personal level. My father grew up in Brooklyn, and while his direct lineage including himself was straight and clean, some of his uncles took a more crooked path in life. More specifically, my extended family had some tight affiliations to Sammy “The Bull” Gravano. Before I digress, these real life and personal stories on top of my aforementioned interest

in the way organized crime works brought me to decide researching the Mafia’s stint in Cuba. As that was too vague, I furthermore decided to explore more interests in foreign culture and adopted the examination of Cuban Culture into my research. Tying both elements together brought me to my final research question which one again is, “how large of an influence did the Mafia have in Cuba and how did their presence affect Cuban-American relations and pre-existing Cuban Culture?”
My initial hunch when conducting preliminary research was that the Mafia controlled Cuba to the core until Batista’s exit and Fidel Castro’s rise. On the topic of how their presence in Cuba affected Cuba-American relations, I initially believed that the Mafia would have helped U.S. relations with Cuba. The reasoning behind this is because of how the U.S. government operated around World War II when the Navy contacted the Mafia in order to protect the docks from saboteurs. This plan worked to perfection, and therefore I perceived future relations to organize politics, trade, business and other means through the Mafia in Cuba would have been easy. Lastly, on the topic of the Mafia and Cuban culture, I initially believed the Mafia would have altered Cuban culture to become more Americanized, or at a minimum adopt American music, dance, and style. I left out food because I believe the Casinos and hotels would only pertain to the visitors, and wouldn’t impact true Cuban cuisine as a whole within native communities. The reasoning behind this three specific aspects of Culture is because of the Mafia's influence in the Casinos and upper class of the country. American singer’s were flown in to hold concerts in Cuba, and wealthy tourists with American style and formalities also followed. Society always wants to act like the cream of the crop as well, further prompting my hypothesis for this claim.
Going in the same order as my aforementioned hypotheses, I found myself to be correct about the Mafia’s influence on the island.

In regards to U.S. relations with Cuba after Mafia influence, I found myself to be partially correct. Finally, in regards to how the Mafia impacted Cuban culture, I found myself to be partially correct once more. The Mafia controlled the island of Cuba quite literally, as President Batista’s assets were being handled by Mafia boss Meyer Lansky. President Batista as a result had no problem altering laws to accommodate their needs when a Mafia boss wanted an easier route to develop a new project on the Island. The Mafia also constructed many of Cuba’s roads and public buildings as a show of gratitude to Batista for their safehaven, and a show of power and control over the island. Drugs were trafficked easily in and out of Cuba, in Havana as a hub for cocaine exports. Until Fidel Castro came around in 1959, the Mafia were the true leaders of the

island.
I stand partially correct on the next two topics because I over hypothesised what events actually took place.

The Mafia did help U.S. relations with Cuba as they kept Batista happy who was himself backed by the U.S. government; however, when enough was enough the U.S. would step in and threaten a freeze of trade or sanctions until things went their way. Overall, the Mafia presence could have been considered to slightly elevate U.S. and Cuban relations. However, nce Cuba fell into the hands of Fidel Castro, relations in Cuba were drastically changed for the worse. The Mafia were expelled from the island themselves, and for many years into Fidel’s reign worked with the United States government in operations to try and restore Cuba to its partial-Mafia, partial-U.S. puppet state mentality.

In regards to Mafia influence on Cuban culture, it was not as large as I expected. During their tenure Cuban culture absolutely shifted towards American standards as the country could have almost been considered a resort for the rich. However, once the Mafia left, Castro implemented policies to return Cuba to the people and did away with all of the fashion and glamour the Mafia and Casinos brought. The only portions that remained were seen in music and dance, as new forms were created and were implemented into everyday Cuban

culture.
The one thing I would have liked to have researched but could not find any credible sources on were the exact contacts and happenings within the days before and prior to the Havana Conference of 1947. The rest of the material I found with else using Gale Virtual Reference Library, or examining credible sources on the web after searching for keywords or events. Luckily, I wasted no time and found sources that could all help the progression of my paper. As the development of my paper progresses, I may look at other research databases and try using different keywords to find information that I feel will be necessary to crafting a fully sound paper. In addition, the current sources did not make me rethink my topic as it actually only heightened my interest in the subject. Lastly, I believe my original research question asking, “how large of an influence did the Mafia have in Cuba and how did their presence affect Cuban-American relations and pre-existing Cuban Culture,” is still acceptable at this point in time and will work well as my paper moves along.