What has been and what could be AGAIN!!
Back in the 1950s Havana was richer than Miami. That was when the United States and the Mafia both lavishly supported the thievery of the brutal Batista dictatorship. Back in the 1950s the U. S. wildly promoted American companies and American tourists to flock to Havana and partake lavishly in the Gold Mine that Batista's Cuba afforded them. Thus, back in the 1950s the United States loved the Caribbean's largest and most beautiful island nation. Miami back in the 1950s was no more than Havana's little sister, with DC-3 airplanes, ships, and ferries using Miami as a port to fly and sail and ferry tourists to Havana...where uncontrolled lures such as gambling, drugs, and prostitution awaited all those unending tourist dollars!!
But it was in Batista's Cuba in the 1950s when Miami was used to make Havana the GO-TO destination and the RICHEST CITY in the Caribbean!! Back in the 1950s Miami was saturated with ads like the one above: "HAVANA ROUND-TRIP EXURSION $42...THREE ROUND TRIPS FROM MIAMI EVERY WEEK!!!!" Wonderful!! Of course, Batista's Cuba as well as the MAFIA and all those U. S. COMPANIES were WAITING in Havana as all those Dollars sailed FROM Miami into the ever-ALLURING Havana!!!
And for sure, back in the 1950s in Batista's Cuba the Batistianos, the Mafiosi, and the U. S. businessmen were making vast fortunes by using Havana as a Mafia-fueled Cash Cow. But, as they stashed much of those easy dollars in Miami banks and other Miami entities, they also stupidly failed to toss even a few crumbs to the majority peasants, or non-Batistianos, who were neglected all across the island. Thus, there were no crumbs to fund education, health care, and other necessities for the starving majority. And, beyond that cruel stupidity, Batista's Cuba in the 1950s had a ploy that was even crueler: Their goon-squads murdered children to persuade the parents not to dissent!!
In Batista's Cuba in the 1950s peasant mothers had no crumbs to properly feed and otherwise care for their children.
But in Batista's Cuba in the 1950s the last straw for the non-Batistiano-Mafiosi mothers was the "the murders of our children"/"LOS ASESINATOS DE NUESTROS HIJOS." Of course, in August of 2022 Miami still denies the significance of historic photos such as the two above, but nevertheless photos like these two explain why the Batistianos, the Mafiosi, and the American businessmen were booted out of Havana in January of 1959...mostly to nearby Miami by the Cuban Revolution!!
Even more incredible is the fact that the Cuban Revolution has existed for over 62 years, and in 2022 that includes six years since the death of Fidel Castro at age 90 in 2016.
In the last 62+ years many pro-Revolutionary and many anti-Revolutionary journalists and authors have tried mightily to tell us "How the Mob Owned Cuba...and Then Lost It to the Revolution." But, for sure, T. J. English in his classic and seminal book "Havana Nocturne" has done the greatest job in telling us the pivotal history of Havana...and Little Havana USA.
Yes, T. J. English best chronicles what happened in Havana in the 1950s and what has happened in Little Havana USA since 1959. Since 1959 ultra-targeted Havana has gone from being the richest city in the Caribbean to the poorest, while since 1959 Little Havana USA in the heart of Miami has emerged from poverty to become one of the richest and most politically powerful entities in the superpower United States.
To understand the Miami-Havana conundrum, start by reading and studying T. J. English books, especially Havana Nocturne. Then you might understand why today ultra-poor Havana is barely holding on while ultra-rich Miami and ultra-rich Little Havana USA in AUGUST of 2022 totally dictate the USA's lucrative Cuban policies the same as Batista and the Mafia, with the help of the USA, dictated Cuba in the 1950s before the Cuban Revolution intervened in 1959. But what, incredibly, if Miami and the USA loved Havana again? Well, if that happened, Havana would again become as rich as Miami is today!!!
In August of 2022 poor little Cuba remains the largest nation in the Caribbean and the most beautiful island in the Western Hemisphere...and the region's most intriguing and alluring destination. And if Miami and the USA loved Cuba now as much as they did in the 1950s, Havana would soon be as rich as Miami and Little Havana USA. Cuba's history and its dalliances with Miami and the USA tell us that is so.