Word: havana
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Business, for the most part, is nearly back to normal in Havana. The tourists are slowly returning to the suffering hotels, as they realize that the fighting and danger are over. The exotic Cuban climate is as alluring as ever, the ubiquitous busses driven by mad geniuses called guageros zoom miraculously through narrow city streets, and the colorful street vendors tirelessly ply their wares upon bargain-hunting Americanos...
...center of political activity in Havana today is the head-quarters of Fidel Castro on the 23rd floor of the luxurious Havana Hilton. The spacious, plushly-furnished lobby of the swank hotel presents the observer with a curious and incongruous sight. It seems strange to see the bearded rebel soldiers, armed to the teeth, rubbing shoulders and sometimes tolerantly conversing with the Hilton's exclusive clientele, who come from all over the world. But after a while no one seems out-of-place in the crowd; not even the pretty young Cuban bobby-soxers who come with their cameras...
...people . . . If 51 per cent of the people didn't want the executions there would be none. But when 90 per cent of Cuba want them, I would be a dictator if I stopped them." He referred here to a public opinion poll conducted last week in Havana by radio station CMQ, which found that 93 per cent of those polled were in favor of continuing executions...
Stream of Consciousness. The man behind the show executions reacted with petulance, incomprehension, irrelevancies, inept concessions. Red-eyed from a cold and plain fatigue, Fidel Castro still tried to run the country from Floor 23 of the Havana Hilton Hotel; he roamed through crushing mobs of sycophants in his $100-a-day suite. The hero's soft, high-pitched voice ran on for 20 hours a day, scolding, demanding, refusing, laughing...
...pulled out all the old crowd-pleasers that were growing a bit jaded back home. He called the world press coverage of the executions "the most criminal, vile and cowardly campaign ever conducted against any people." At the Havana Hilton, Floor 23 emptied, the elevators and switchboards began running smoothly again. For a few hours there was peace in Cuba...