Inside Asian Gaming

June 2014 inside asian gaming 27 he was sent to work in the sugar fields. So there is no caudillo (“strong man”) to lead a second revolution. But the old men also have to keep the disappointment and anger of the general population under control. They are understandably scared by what they saw happen to dictators during the “Arab Spring”. On 14th January 2013, the government began allowing most Cubans to leave the country, without having to get approval, pay $400 for a visa or forfeit their right to return. Thismay turn out to be like the fall of the Berlin Wall. Average citizens visiting countries with more than four state-controlled television channels, let alone access to the Internet, will be more frustrated upon their return, with their lack of just about everything. The US embargo and the failures of communism locked Cuba into 1959. Even the cars and buildings are the same. And this may provide the solution to Cuba’s problems. Classic 1950s Fords and Chevys are everywhere. Imagine the reaction of a guy making $20 a month, after trade reopens with the US: “I won’t give you more than $40,000 for your car.” Cuba’s 1950s hotels are also still standing. More importantly, so are its casinos. Although now dark and empty, nothing else has changed; even the chandeliers are the same. You swear you hear the ghost-whispering of long-gone slot machines and craps tables when you walk around the Riviera casino. Many of the bars and nightclubs are still open. The largest showroom of them all, the Tropicana with its multi-level, outdoor stage, sells out every night. The extravaganza features statuesque showgirls with feathered headdresses and sexy dancing, or at least what would have been considered sexy in 1959. Fidel, through his hand-picked provisional president, Manuel Urrutia, closed the casinos immediately after seizing power, just as he canceled the national lottery. But the thousands of Cubans thrown out of work took to the streets in protest. Castro’s own economic advisors told him that the country’s economy would collapse unless the casinos were reopened. They proved to be right, but too late. Castro relented, for a while. But tourists, Gambling and the Law Havana’s casinos were symbols of the prior dictator, Fulgencio Batista’s, corrupt regime. When asked about the Americans who ran Cuba’s gambling, Fidel said, “We are not only disposed to deport the gangsters, but to shoot them.” The US embargo and the failures of communism locked Cuba into 1959. Even the cars and buildings are the same. And this may provide the solution to Cuba’s problems.