Chapter 16: New Year’s 1958 and Beyond- Havana Before Castro

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# Havana Before Castro by Peter Moruzzi

### When Cuba Was a Tropical Playground

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#### Chapter 16

## New Year’s 1958 and Beyond

On the evening of December 31, 1958, President Batista, his family, and his closest associates fled Havana by airplane leaving the country to Fidel Castro and his rebel army. Following the sacking of many of the city’s casinos by its jubilant citizens, Havana waited seven more days for Castro and his caravan to finally arrive. Prior to the nationalization of the country’s large businesses and hotels in late 1960, Castro invited tourists back to the island, but to no avail. The party was clearly over and the Cuban Missile Crisis was on its way.