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In the 1950s, Havana shines as a vibrant metropolis—alive with music, casinos, and cabarets. However, beneath the allure lies a city controlled by the American mafia, where luxury contrasts sharply with the poverty endured by most Cubans. U.S. tourists escape Prohibition and moral restrictions back home. Icons like Ernest Hemingway, Frank Sinatra, and Ava Gardner revel in the city’s rhythms, frequenting hotspots like the Hotel Nacional and the Tropicana nightclub. Yet beneath the surface, corruption and oppression grip Cuba.
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00:05Havana
00:07Caribbean colorfulness, American vintage street cruisers and magnificent buildings
00:17Hidden beneath the crumbling plaster is the history of a dazzling metropolis
00:26Music venues, casinos, shows
00:32In the 1950s, the flair of the colonial era and the Caribbean climate attracted writers, celebrities and political figures
00:41The who's who of North America
00:45Ernest Hemingway, Marlon Brando, Ava Gardner and Nat King Cole fell for the rhythm of the Cuban capital
00:53The so-called Pearl of the Caribbean
00:55Music
00:56Music
00:58But the glamour contrasted with the bitter poverty of the inhabitants
01:03A revolution was only a matter of time
01:06Music
01:12Music
01:20The Hotel Nacional de Cuba in the heart of the Vedado district
01:25It is the institution of the city
01:28To date, more than 100 heads of state and countless celebrities have visited the hotel
01:36Opened on December 30, 1930, the building reflects the architectural ideal that was in vogue in Havana at the time
01:45Unesco has declared the hotel
01:47Unesco has declared the hotel a national monument and world cultural heritage site
01:50Diana Lascano gives daily guided tours of the hotel
01:57The hotel nacional is perhaps one of the most important places in Havana's history
02:05It may be a hotel but many of the country's historic events took place here
02:14Directly and indirectly
02:15It's like a museum
02:17Everything you find here is in its original state and very well preserved
02:26From the 1930s to the present day
02:31Like hardly any other building in the city
02:34The Hotel Nacional stands for a time when Havana was a pleasure paradise
02:41And the hotel is a temple of entertainment
02:45With a brand new pool and all the luxury you can imagine at this time
02:49The central port of call for celebrities, the rich and stars visiting the city
02:58There is Frank Sinatra's suite here
03:01The room of Maria Felix, a very famous Mexican actress
03:06There was also Nat King Cole in the 1950s
03:09Errol Flynn, John Wayne
03:14In the 1950s, the hotel was world famous and experienced its heyday
03:20Just like the city of Havana
03:22A vibrant metropolis that is visited and admired by tourists from all over the world
03:35Leonardo Padura is one of Cuba's most popular contemporary writers
03:40Among other things, he writes crime novels set in the 1950s
03:49There were more cars in Havana than in Madrid and Barcelona combined
03:54The city literally exploded
03:56And that was mainly due to the many North American tourists
04:01The rise of the city began with an unprecedented experiment
04:06Prohibition
04:06On January 16th 1920, the United States of America banned the production, transportation and sale of alcohol
04:16But less than 200 kilometers away, in Havana, the rum was flowing freely
04:26The flight from Miami only took 40 minutes
04:30And there were ferries from Key West to Havana at night
04:34You boarded in Key West at sunset and disembarked in Havana in the morning after breakfast
04:42The journey was therefore very easy
04:45And guests found a city with music, history, a good infrastructure
04:51And thoroughly modern hotels
05:00Pan American Airways direct Miami Havana flight
05:04Became the flight with the most passengers between the United States and a foreign city
05:09Numerous ships transported masses of tourists and even American cars to the island
05:16No Cuban would admit it today
05:18But the connection between Cuba and the USA is so close
05:23That the new seat of government is being built on the model of the capital in Washington
05:28Although the building is smaller overall, it is 3.7 meters higher at its highest point
05:34And that is still prestigious today
05:41Havana is in full bloom these days
05:44American road cruisers and magnificent colonial buildings characterise the cityscape
05:57One of the country's greatest photographers grew up in this up-and-coming cosmopolitan city
06:05Ernesto Fernandez Nogueras
06:08He began photographing his surroundings at a young age
06:17The city of Havana was the greatest in the world
06:20That's what everyone said back then
06:22It's 6 in the morning, you've been drinking, you're walking down the street
06:26And you don't know whether it's 8 o'clock in the evening, 10 o'clock at night or 2 o
06:30'clock in the morning
06:31You walk, totally relaxed, along the wall of the pier
06:35And go to sleep there without anyone disturbing you
06:39That was Havana
06:40Nobody could say no
06:42Wherever and whenever you wanted it
06:45There was alcohol, rum, beer
06:48From the cheapest to the most expensive
07:00Ernesto Fernandez Nogueras was just a teenager
07:04But he succeeded in creating unique perspectives on life in his hometown
07:14Above all, it documents the various facets of people's everyday lives
07:18And he managed to take a rare snapshot that became a symbol of American tourism at this time
07:31There were places we called Alambique
07:35There were a kind of bars where they sold rum to tourists who happened to be passing through
07:41There were about 10 or 15 tables and all the drinks were free
07:45But some guests bought a whole bottle
07:50A boozy tourist
07:51Her picture will become an icon of Cuban-American history
07:59I really liked the woman because she was in such a good mood
08:03And then I saw her stroking the cat and took the photo
08:06I don't know if it's the cat or her
08:08But the picture always caught my eye
08:13A boozy tourist
08:14Her picture will become an icon of Cuban-American history
08:18For party tourists, the city was a veritable paradise in the middle of the last century
08:26Mainly because of the exciting nightlife
08:29The Cabaret Tropicana was particularly popular
08:33The institution is now a national cultural monument
08:37And stands like no other stage in the city
08:39For the rise of Havana as a party metropolis
08:43Senoras y señores
08:46To time
08:52The Tropicana opened on New Year's Eve 1939
08:56And while the Second World War was raging in Europe
08:59People were partying to Latin American rhythms
09:08The dance shows soon became legendary
09:11The nightclub was the stage for the best dancers on the island
09:15And offered glamour, pomp and luxury
09:17But above all, attractive showgirls
09:30The secret of success has hardly changed to this day
09:33Glamour, dance and proudly presented beautiful bodies
09:38Glamour, dance and quickly
09:47The dance shows soon
09:51The dance shows soon
09:52Do not play at all
09:53Take it away
09:53Take it away
09:54Take it away
09:54Take it away
09:56Ta feline
09:58I've got to do
10:01Be the love
10:02Take it away
10:03I've got to do
10:05Take it away
10:05Dev a day
10:05e a 20-year-old tradition of the house.
10:15There was always a lot of naked skin shown there,
10:19but it was never coarse, it was never vulgar.
10:22When the great dancers presented themselves at the Tropicana,
10:26it was more about the sensuality of the Cubans.
10:36That was what was on offer, sensuality, not pornography.
10:41Their work was always treated with respect.
10:48And so the stars of the 50s also do the honours on stage and in the audience.
10:54The Tropicana is the ideal place to see and be seen.
11:01The American singer and entertainer Nat King Cole
11:04gave an internationally acclaimed guest performance at the height of his fame.
11:12When Nat King Cole came to Havana for the first time in 1956,
11:17he gave one concert.
11:19He came to the city for a month.
11:22A year later, on his second guest appearance,
11:25he gave two shows every night.
11:27And the queue of cars whose owners wanted to go to the concert
11:31stretched for many kilometres.
11:35It was a boom, a nationwide event.
11:46Nat King Cole was the great American singer at this time.
11:50He felt at home among the artists of the cabaret Tropicana.
11:57And perhaps the greatest Hollywood actor of the 1950s
12:01was also enthusiastic, Marlon Brando.
12:04Incognito, he travelled to Havana again and again under false names.
12:09Brando was an enthusiastic conga player.
12:12In Havana, he set off in search of the perfect tumbadora,
12:15a special barrel drum.
12:19He found what he was looking for at the Tropicana.
12:26He demanded that they sell him a tumbadora.
12:29He didn't want to leave the club until he got one.
12:33Together with the producer, he spoke to one of the percussionists.
12:48For Brando, a music enthusiast, the city was a true paradise.
12:53He would later say,
13:03But there was also a poor Havana with rundown neighbourhoods
13:09and at the same time, the normal Havana where my parents' house was located, for example.
13:15Neighbourhoods like that grew back then with modest but well-built houses.
13:21There were all kinds of gradations from abject poverty to great luxury.
13:27The Havana, with its pleasures and luxurious buildings,
13:31was also a Havana with major political and social problems.
13:44Nevertheless, the 1940s and 1950s are still considered the golden age of Cuban music.
13:52One of the country's best-known artists was the musician Compay Segundo.
13:58For most Cubans, clubs like the Tropicana were too expensive.
14:03They organised themselves into clubs for locals that only admitted members,
14:08called Club Social.
14:17Probably the best-known of these clubs was in the Buena Vista district,
14:21now Playa, on the eastern hills of Havana.
14:24Compay Segundo, also played there.
14:28On the road with a local celebrity,
14:31Segundo's son,
14:32Salvador Repilado.
14:41We're on our way to where the Buena Vista Social Club stood in the 1930s.
14:49It's a symbolic place here in Havana.
14:57Many traditional orchestras from the country came here.
15:05It is said that the best music groups
15:09always played at the Buena Vista Social Club.
15:16The house is in this block.
15:20Take a look at the photo.
15:22I think it's the house right next door.
15:29It must have been here.
15:32Let's ask the people.
15:36Just knock on the door.
15:42The Buena Vista Social Club was in this house.
15:45Didn't I tell you?
15:48The music of the nightclub once pulsated in the now quiet residential building.
15:58This was the stage.
16:00There was a stage here.
16:02And people were dancing here,
16:04even in the entrance.
16:06In the entrance and on the street.
16:09And on the street.
16:11There was the stage.
16:16The most famous orchestra in the whole of Havana played here.
16:19It was mainly people who had little money who came here.
16:22Workers.
16:23Workers with different jobs.
16:28Bricklayers, electricians, plumbers.
16:30Tobacconist.
16:32Tobacconist, shoemaker.
16:35People from the city.
16:36Yes, normal people from the city.
16:41There really are a lot of emotions in these walls.
16:45Many feelings.
16:47Many memories.
16:48My father, compay Segundo, was also here when he was young.
16:54He was very familiar with this place.
17:04For him, it was always a symbolic, almost magical place.
17:10A place where very simple people came to spend their free time and relax.
17:17And very good Cuban music was played here.
17:21By orchestras that still shape the style of our music today.
17:32There is an inner courtyard behind the building.
17:36Where there is now a fitness studio, there used to be dancing, drinking and laughing.
17:43In the picture we see people playing dominoes.
17:47They sit together.
17:49Yes, and have a chat.
17:54The photo is from the 1930s, isn't it?
17:57From the 30s or 40s.
18:03The locals spend their free time in these backyards.
18:06But the crowds of tourists are still drawn to the big shows and attractions.
18:18The shows that took place here at the Cabaret Tropicana became famous.
18:26Because the big international and Cuban stars performed here.
18:30Well, that was just a lure to attract a wide audience.
18:37What it was really about was the casino.
18:41After the show, people went to the casino.
18:45And that belonged to the American mafia.
18:49Many shady people were regulars.
19:02Havana turned out to be an El Dorado for the American mafia right from the start.
19:08Here, it could operate beyond the reach of the US law enforcement authorities.
19:13Their aim was to establish around Havana's Malecon Promenade, what was forbidden in the USA, gambling, alcohol and prostitution.
19:24The foundation stone for this was laid in the Hotel Nacional.
19:31An unofficial conference was held here in 1946, the Havana Conference.
19:37Here, it was decided, the city should blossom into a paradise of sin.
19:46Historian Kiro Bianchi Ross knows the course of one of the most notorious meetings in the history of organized crime.
19:55The mafia rented the hotel for three days in December 1946.
20:00All the big mafia bosses of the time came, except Al Capone.
20:04He was already very ill, but he sent his best regards.
20:08And then, the distribution took place.
20:10The American mafia divided up the responsibilities among themselves.
20:15Which area could you control, which was mine, and which belonged to the others?
20:23The gangsters met the perfect business partner, Fulgencio Batista.
20:29The former military stenographer had controlled politics in Cuba since the mid-1930s.
20:36After a first term in office, he installed puppet governments.
20:40In 1952, he took power as dictator.
20:44He was supported by the mafioso Maya Lansky.
20:55Lansky met with Batista as early as 1934.
20:59Batista was already head of the army, and the most powerful man in Cuba.
21:03The following is oral tradition, because the mafia didn't write anything down, and there were no photos or documents.
21:08So, they meet in a hotel, it must have been the Hotel Nacional, and Lansky takes him to a room
21:15and says,
21:15Look, this suitcase is full of dollars, it's for you, and there will be more suitcases.
21:21One every year.
21:22But Batista was a very ambitious man, and he came from a very humble background.
21:27He was a sugarcane cutter.
21:29When he saw that, he was dazzled.
21:37By the mid-1950s, the plans seemed to be working.
21:41The casinos proved to be a real goldmine for the mafia and the regime.
21:55Eduardo Torres Cuevas is president of the Academy for the History of Cuba
22:00and one of the country's most renowned historians.
22:04He reports on a billion-dollar business.
22:08There is one crucial aspect to the whole story.
22:12The business idea of Las Vegas was born at the same time as that of Havana.
22:17But Havana had one decisive advantage.
22:22Batista did not levy taxes.
22:25In Las Vegas, the mafia had to pay taxes, but not here.
22:30The entire business was tax-free.
22:34Havana was to become the Las Vegas of the Caribbean.
22:47And the decisions were made in this room,
22:50with surprising connections right up to the highest levels of show business.
23:01This was the mafia's suite, where they lived when they came to their meetings in 1946.
23:10Years ago, there was still a connecting corridor here.
23:17This means that the mafia's room was connected to Frank Sinatra's room.
23:26It is said that Frank Sinatra discreetly attended the mafia's private meetings in this way.
23:39The famous American singer's ancestors came from a small Sicilian village.
23:45Various mafia members were early patrons of his stage career.
23:49He finally performed in front of his criminal friends in the banquet room of the Hotel National.
23:58Frank Sinatra returned regularly, in 1951, with the actress Ava Gardner.
24:06At the time, she was at the top of Hollywood and Sinatra's wife.
24:15Frank Sinatra was enraptured by the island.
24:19When he married Ava Gardner, he wanted to show her this paradise that she had never seen before.
24:28So he took her to Cuba, and travelled the island with her.
24:35To win her over, he told her that he would take her to a magical castle for their honeymoon.
24:41And, well, he meant the Hotel Nacional.
24:46Ava Gardner was not only a seductress and a woman of life in the movies.
24:51She became friends with Ernest Hemingway, while still on her honeymoon.
24:56From 1939, the American writer lived on a country estate southeast of the city.
25:12Finca La Vigia is now a museum.
25:15Everything here is exactly as Hemingway left it.
25:22He, literary, wrote history here.
25:26Some of his most famous novels were written on this typewriter in the Finca.
25:37Isabel Ferreiro is the deputy director of the museum.
25:47Hemingway had his own work area, a kind of granny apartment.
25:55Something like a master bedroom.
25:58And there was a rule in the house.
26:00Nobody was allowed in there without his permission.
26:03When Hemingway got up early in the morning, in the marital bedroom,
26:07and wanted to start writing, he moved into these rooms.
26:15Then everything had to be quiet.
26:20When the servants or his wife spoke, they did so in a whisper,
26:24because any interruption impaired the writer's creativity.
26:29Hemingway needed precisely these three rooms,
26:32because he strolled from one to the other,
26:35waiting for the muse to kiss him and give him ideas.
26:38And then he took them up.
26:47Only his beloved cats were allowed to distract him from his work.
26:56Hemingway lived a very organized life.
26:59He weighs himself almost compulsively every day,
27:02and notes his weight on the bathroom wall.
27:09At last count, his library contained 9,000 books.
27:20Contact with Ava Gardner never broke off.
27:24At Hemingway's request,
27:25she played the female lead in three film adaptations of his novels.
27:30The actress was a regular guest at the Finca,
27:33much to the chagrin of Hemingway's fourth wife, Mary Welsh.
27:42One day, Ava Gardner, who was spending a few days at Finca Vigia,
27:47decided to go swimming naked.
27:50Mary went with her.
27:53But Mary was quite jealous
27:55and wanted to get Ava Gardner into trouble.
28:02When Ava Gardner was in the water,
28:04Mary grabbed her bathrobe and took it with her.
28:10But she didn't reckon on the fact
28:12that Ava Gardner was a very revealing person
28:20and had no problem at all
28:23walking around naked in front of people.
28:29Ava got out of the pool
28:30and couldn't find her bathrobe,
28:32so she walked up the stairs
28:34and entered the house completely naked.
28:37It wasn't her fault.
28:39It was Mary's.
28:41Hemingway immediately realised what was going on
28:44and started laughing out loud.
28:49The women in Hemingway's life may have come and gone,
28:53but he remained faithful to the city of Havana.
28:57Cubans still affectionately call him Papa to this day.
29:01Even the table in his favourite restaurant
29:03is kept free for him every evening.
29:11Love is based on reciprocity.
29:14Hemingway received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954
29:18and after his return,
29:20he dedicated it to the Cuban people.
29:23After his suicide in 1961,
29:26the finca became the property of the country.
29:34The up-and-coming Havana of the 1950s
29:37had many dark sides.
29:40Even supposedly respectable visitors
29:42fell into the vices of the Caribbean island.
29:47Senator John F. Kennedy
29:48allegedly travelled privately to Havana
29:51at least 12 times
29:52and probably also took advantage
29:54of the freedom of movement in Cuba.
29:57Kennedy's stays at the Hotel Commodoro in 1957
30:01was rather spicy.
30:03As a guest of Mafia boss
30:05Santo Traficante Jr.,
30:07what the future US president didn't know
30:09was that the Mafia boss was watching him.
30:12Santo Traficante's goal
30:14was to make Kennedy vulnerable to blackmail.
30:18They played a trick on Kennedy
30:19and sent three girls to his room.
30:23Kennedy agreed.
30:25What he didn't know was
30:27that they were watching him
30:28through a spy mirror.
30:30Afterwards,
30:31Traficante regretted not filming
30:33what was happening.
30:35He could have filmed it,
30:36but he just watched it.
30:39He enjoyed just watching.
30:46Rumor or not,
30:47the rest of the story is well known.
30:49The future American president
30:51joined an illustrious group of sex tourists.
30:58This is the Casa Marina.
31:00It is one of the most famous brothels
31:02that existed in Cuba in 1958.
31:06Kennedy came here
31:07and Winston Churchill.
31:08Everyone came here.
31:10Many celebrities.
31:12There was a photo album of girls here.
31:16visitors could choose the women
31:18from photos.
31:21It wasn't expensive.
31:23Only 10 pesos.
31:37Casa Marina was pretty exclusive.
31:39You couldn't get in
31:40if you didn't know anyone there.
31:43You had to bring a reference.
31:45If you didn't have a reference,
31:46you weren't let in.
31:51It is a look into the abysses
31:53that tourism on the island
31:55also stands for these days.
32:01At the end of the 1950s,
32:03photographer Ernesto Fernandez Nogueiras
32:06experienced one thing above all else
32:08away from the tourist crowds,
32:10abject poverty.
32:12His pictures show life in the city's slums.
32:24What I found so striking
32:26about poverty in Cuba
32:28was that the people,
32:30at least the people I portrayed,
32:33were always more or less well-dressed.
32:45They are all poor people.
32:47The sick woman
32:48and all the others
32:49live in utter misery.
32:51But the little girl
32:52standing next to her
32:53is wearing shoes.
32:54She has socks.
32:55She's well-dressed.
32:59The photo is so interesting
33:01because it shows
33:02how the Cubans lived.
33:04There wasn't a single worker
33:05who didn't go to the factory
33:07wearing a suit and tie.
33:09Everyone was always well-dressed.
33:18I took this photo in 1958.
33:21It really impressed me a lot
33:23because when a man
33:25puts his head down like this,
33:27not like this or like this,
33:30but exactly like this,
33:32literally,
33:33tucked away,
33:35then you realise
33:37how much a person
33:38is suffering.
33:39There would have been
33:40enough here
33:41to help him.
33:47Pictures like this
33:48are never published
33:49because of state censorship.
33:52Only a few
33:53even dare to develop them.
33:58The social divide
34:00was becoming more
34:01and more skewed.
34:02Most of the island's
34:04inhabitants
34:04did not benefit
34:06from the flourishing turnover
34:07of the casinos
34:08and hotels
34:09and were completely
34:10excluded from the wealth.
34:12They had no advantage
34:14whatsoever
34:15from the US-friendly policies
34:16of dictator Fulgencio Batista.
34:19The revolution
34:20was only a matter of time.
34:23The oppression
34:25was terrible.
34:27Many people died,
34:28especially
34:29many young people.
34:31In my opinion,
34:32that is one reason.
34:34A second reason?
34:36The population
34:37saw that a minority
34:39had privileges.
34:44So there were
34:46several causes,
34:47but the revolution
34:48was mainly triggered
34:49by abject poverty
34:51and not so much
34:53by the fact
34:53that some were
34:55more privileged
34:56and richer.
35:00The battles
35:01against the regime
35:02began as early
35:03as 1956.
35:06From the mountains
35:07of the Sierra Maestra,
35:09Fidel Castro
35:10made several attempts
35:11with an army
35:12of students,
35:13farmers,
35:14sons and workers
35:15until the hated
35:16dictator
35:17secretly fled the island
35:18during the New Year's Day
35:20celebrations
35:20in 1959.
35:27The revolutionaries
35:28finally entered Havana
35:30on January 8th.
35:31At their head,
35:32Fidel Castro.
35:41He was like a messiah.
35:44People believed in him.
35:46He was a man
35:47with an amazing
35:48power of persuasion.
35:55You have to imagine
35:57that.
35:58He was young,
35:59handsome,
36:00with an extremely
36:01high level
36:02of intelligence
36:03and an enormous
36:05ability
36:06to assert himself.
36:08A huge talent.
36:10Fidel could convince
36:12even his worst enemy
36:14of anything.
36:20The charismatic
36:21leaders' followers
36:22came from all walks
36:24of life
36:24and demanded
36:25a fundamental upheaval.
36:27Unusually for the time,
36:29many women also
36:30fought on the side
36:31of the revolutionaries.
36:44And then there's
36:47another decisive factor,
36:48the Cuban dream.
36:50In 1958 and 1959,
36:53everyone wanted
36:55a better Cuba
36:55than the one
36:57they were living in.
37:02I believe that
37:03Fidel succeeded
37:05in channeling
37:06this feeling
37:06that most people had.
37:09A mentality.
37:11A culture
37:12that was
37:13in the majority
37:14of people.
37:19It was the moment
37:21everyone
37:21had been eagerly
37:23waiting for
37:23because the situation
37:25had really escalated.
37:26When the news
37:27spread that Batista
37:28was gone,
37:29everyone ran
37:30into the streets.
37:31I had never
37:32experienced
37:33such great joy
37:34in my life.
37:35I can't put it
37:36into words.
37:37Normally,
37:38the first to take
37:39to the streets
37:40are the mobs,
37:41the criminals,
37:41who want to destroy
37:43and steal everything.
37:44But here it was
37:45different.
37:46When Batista fell,
37:48everyone took
37:49to the streets.
37:54For many,
37:55it was the end
37:56of decades
37:57of oppression
37:58and it was the end
37:59of the American
38:00mafia in Cuba.
38:03The casinos
38:05were cleared out,
38:06slot machines
38:07burned in the streets.
38:10The revolutionaries
38:12occupied the Havana Hilton,
38:14the tallest hotel
38:15in Latin America
38:16at the time
38:16with 25 floors.
38:18Fidel Castro declared
38:20the VIP suite there,
38:21high above Havana,
38:23his temporary headquarters.
38:32One of the rare private shots
38:34shows him with his son
38:35on the bed in the suite.
38:41The Hilton Hotel
38:42was considered a symbol
38:43of American imperialism.
38:45even today,
38:46it is a timeless
38:47architectural style icon.
38:49It is therefore
38:50no coincidence
38:51that the revolutionaries
38:53occupied it.
39:03after the revolution,
39:05the hotel was renamed
39:06Habana Libre,
39:08Free Havana.
39:14Soon afterwards,
39:16the political confrontation
39:17with the USA began.
39:19in 1962,
39:21John F. Kennedy
39:22of all people
39:23imposed a trade embargo
39:24on the now-communist Cuba,
39:26which is still in place today.
39:33But Kennedy had a passion
39:35for Cuban cigars.
39:36Before his favorite brand
39:38was classified as contraband
39:40by his own embargo,
39:41he is said to have asked
39:42his press officer
39:43to get him 1,200 more.
39:50Legend has it
39:51that Kennedy
39:52only signed the embargo
39:53after the delivery
39:54of the cigars
39:55had been confirmed.
40:02This economic blockade
40:04marked the end
40:05of Havana's
40:06supposed heyday.
40:07Only the alliance
40:09with the USSR
40:10kept the city alive,
40:12which increasingly fell
40:13into disrepair.
40:17Today,
40:18only the colorful
40:19street cruisers
40:20left behind
40:20bear witness
40:21to the former dominance
40:23of the Americans
40:23on the island
40:24and to a time
40:26of extravagant parties
40:27in the gambling capital
40:28of Havana.
40:36Many people
40:37romanticized the past,
40:39the splendor
40:40of the 1950s.
40:42Havana was great,
40:43but not only
40:44and not for many people.
40:50The image of this Havana
40:52is inextricably linked
40:54with the very violent
40:55oppression of the people
40:56by the regime
40:58of the time.
40:59On the other hand,
41:00there's a dazzling city
41:02full of lights,
41:03cars,
41:04buses and cinemas.
41:09but when it comes
41:11to judging history,
41:13memories change.
41:15That's why it's difficult
41:16to give people today
41:17a reasonably realistic picture
41:20of the time.
41:29The splendor
41:31of this extraordinary
41:32attractive Havana
41:33pales when you consider
41:35how people
41:36in the slums lived
41:37without electricity,
41:39without water
41:40and with terrible diseases
41:42such as tuberculosis.
41:44This juxtaposition
41:46of ostentious wealth
41:48and misery
41:49is what really
41:51defined Havana.
41:52It's neither
41:53one nor the other.
41:56Its history
41:56only exists
41:57with these contradictions.
42:05The former pearl
42:06of the Caribbean
42:07no longer shines.
42:09The plaster
42:10of its old houses
42:11is crumbling,
42:12eaten away
42:12by the salty sea air.
42:14But the myth
42:15of Havana lives on
42:16and with it
42:17the Cuban dream,
42:19the hope
42:20of a better future.
42:36The Great Wall of China
42:38is one of the most
42:39instantly recognisable
42:41structures on Earth,
42:42a symbol of achievement
42:43for humanity.
42:45In a definitive guide,
42:46PBS America
42:47presents new
42:48archaeological findings
42:49going behind the scenes
42:51with China's
42:51modern army.
42:53After the break.