The Cuban Connection Drug Trafficking, Smuggling and Gambling in Cuba from the 1920s to the Revolution

A comprehensive history of crime and corruption in Cuba, "The Cuban Connection" challenges the common view that widespread poverty and geographic proximity to the United States were the prime reasons for soaring rates of drug trafficking, smuggling, gambling, and prostitution in the tumultuous decades preceding the Cuban revolution. After Cuba, the most important player in this story is the United States. The involvement of gangsters and corrupt U.S. officials and businessmen enabled prohibited substances to reach a strong market in the United States, from rum running during Prohibition to increased demand for narcotics during the Cold War.