Gambling

Gambling is a deep rooted Cuban tradition. Before 1959 you could bet on cockfighting, jai alai, horse racing or frequent casinos run by the American mafia and gangsters like Myer Lansky. Presently, there is no form of legalized gambling or betting as existed in the pre-Castro days. There is, however, a form of underground lottery. Cuba's illegal lottery is called la bolita. Everyday Cubans place their bets clandestinely with a listero or type of bookie. Since there is no longer an official Cuban lottery, winning numbers come from abroad. The last two digits of the five digit Venezuelan lottery become the wining numbers in Cuba. We have also heard rumors that there is a another form of illegal gambling at a private club near the Hemingway Marina. However, at present we can't substantiate the information.

Finding Companionship

If you are single and seeking companionship, Cuba just may be the place for you. Cuban women have a reputation for being well educated and beautiful. They are famous for their shapely derrieres. Most Cuban women are industrious and have taken an active role in the workplace in recent years.

Like other Latin American women they tend to be more warm hearted and eternally devoted than their North American counterparts. The women like foreign men, since Cuban men are usually too macho in their ways and unfaithful to their girl friends and wives.

Unfortunately, hard times have given birth to a revival of prostitution and a class of unscrupulous female gold diggers or jineteras that prey on foreign men. Many can be found hanging out in hotel lobbies like the Riviera and discotheques, on the prowl for foreigners.

This is not to say you can't find sincere women and matrimony in Cuba. However, there are some precautions you should take to ensure a woman is really interested in you and not your wallet. You will save yourself a lot of grief and heartache in the long run. Beware of women you meet in bars, in discotheques, in the street or who seem overly assertive, forward and eager to get involved. Any women who are constantly trying to get you to buy her things or asking for money is not worthwhile. You will be smart to give any relationship time to develop and not be impulsive.

The key is finding nice, traditional Latin women and avoiding getting involved with "bad girls." Cuba has plenty of working girls and hustlers. They hang out at popular tourist areas, bars and discos specifically to pick up guys. They also ride buses and go to stores. So, just because you have met a nice girl in a typical working girl hangout, doesn't mean you have met a quality person. If you know what to look for, they are easy to spot.

Many men have knowingly and unknowingly married bad women. Working girls are usually honest and will directly ask you for money. The hustlers are more dangerous because their agenda is to really "take you to the cleaners" and they do not rule out marrying you to achieve their objective. Some men have lost everything from airline tickets that are cashed instead of used, to large sums of money the girls claim they need for a variety of reason, and more. These are the women who contribute to the bad stories you may hear about Latin women. So falling in love with a bad girl will typically lead to a lot of heart ache and problems. Unfortunately they are the easiest girls to meet in Latin America and many men fall into this trap.

Be assured that a very small number of these women will become good wives, find religion, etc. So in all fairness, one shouldn't condemn them, but rather caution men as to the problems they may encounter with these types of women. They are often women who have been sexually abused at a very young age so the problem is deeply rooted. So, your realistic chances of converting them are very slim; no matter how gorgeous the girl is, it is just not worth it.

 The best way to spot a bad girl is by her profile. They seldom have a job, never live with their parents, never have phone numbers and never invite you to their home or introduce you to their friends or family. They do not want to leave any trail for you to track them down later. They typically come from very poor backgrounds and have very little education.

They are quite aggressive and like to target older men. Often they speak a little English and will start up a conversation with you or smile at you until you make the first move. They will appear to be friendly and sincerely interested in you. They are always attractive or very young. They will always ask you for your phone number. The best way to politely get rid of these women is to ask them to loan you a little money. You will immediately see their interest disappear.

A big misconception about Latin females is that they prefer older men. This seems to be the case in only about 30% of the women. Most Latin women meet a boy in high school and are only interested in guys their own age. However, about 30% do seriously prefer older men. I have met many people who are successfully married to women 10 to 25 years younger than them.

Nice Latin women from traditional family backgrounds are raised to take care of their men. They can be quite possessive and jealous at times. But this is only because they are very emotional and deeply in love with their men. They tend to seek out long term relationships, starting at a very young age.

When approached by strangers, they are friendly and helpful by nature; this is their culture. All Latinos value making new friends. Americans and other foreigners often mistake this friendliness and think the woman has romantic interest in them. But actually, respectable women have no serious interest in dating a tourist, who they perceive as being in the country for a short time and primarily interested in sex.

In order for the woman to develop any romantic interest in you at all, they have to first know from a trusted third party that you are looking for a long term relationship. After a brief encounter, a decent woman will never ask for your phone number. If you ask for her phone number, she will always give you the wrong number in order to avoid appearing rude. Nice girls live with their parents and would never want to have strange guys calling their houses. From a romantic interest point of view, quality Latin women are difficult to meet. They have no interest in casually dating many different guys.

If the woman is convinced you are seriously looking for a long term relationship she will then start to show interest in getting to know you better.

Even if you do find your ideal mate, you should realize that there are many cultural differences which can lead to all sorts of problems down the road, especially if you don't speak fluent Spanish.

Currently Cuba doesn't offer internationally accepted marriages for foreign citizens marrying foreign citizens. However, marriages between Cubans and foreigners are legal. Marriage is one of the few requirements for travel from Cuba by Cuban citizens.

Many foreigners, especially Europeans, have married Cuban women. Due to the country's many economic hardships, most Cuban women will jump at the chance to marry a foreigner in order to improve their lifestyle. Unfortunately marrying a Cuban woman and getting her out of the country is rather difficult at present. This process is virtually impossible for U.S. citizens due to the embargo.

Basically the process goes like this. First you have to your country's embassy or consulate in Cuba. Likewise you need to go Cuba immigration to see what paperwork is involved there. This whole process will cost around $1500 and can take four months or longer to get everything in order.

Currently American citizens cannot bring their spouse directly back to the U.S. since most Americans are prohibited from traveling there at the present time. However, there is a way to get around this snag. If an American is a resident of a third country like Mexico or Costa Rica, you can take your spouse to that third country and then apply for a visa to the states.

We recently interviewed an American citizen from San Diego who claims that the best method to get your future spouse out of Cuba and to the States is by obtaining a Fiancé Visa which usually takes three to four months. You have to go to the U.S. Interests Section to apply. He swears this is the fast track method since it sometimes takes 12 to 14 months to get a marriage visa.

Another method is to marry in Cuba and get your future spouse a visa to a third country. Once there, you can marry your fiancé and get her a visa to U.S. if you are a legal resident of the third country. All of these stringent regulations should be relaxed for Americans once relations are normalized between the U.S. and Cuba. An organization at www.gocuba.com can help organize your marriage and assist you with all of the bureaucratic steps you need to take.

If you want a pictorial introduction to Cuba's beautiful women buy a copy of Christopher Baker's the soon to be released, Women of the Caribbean. This beautifully illustrated book portrays the glamour of the most stunning women of Cuba as well as women from other countries of the Caribbean.

Mr. Baker is the award winning author of the best-selling Cuba Handbook and the recently released Havana Handbook