By JOE WARMINGTON, Toronto Sun
Last Updated: August 5, 2010 4:48pm
Nicola Mastrangelo knows what its like to gamble in Cuba and lose.
He bet on love, a game on the communist island where the house often wins.
In his case, after betting the farm, he actually lost a house he built
for his Queen of Hearts.
Fidel Castro may have banned Batista's casinos in 1960 but there is
still high risk gambling going on, especially if you decide to put money
on any Cuban deal.
The deck is stacked.
Cody LeCompte's family found out the pitfalls of this in renting a car.
They are $30,000 in debt after officials forced the teen to stay in Cuba
while they — nudge, nudge, wink, wink — investigated.
Unless there is one more Cuban card trick up their sleeve, his nightmare
should come to an end tonight as he is set to fly home Friday.
However Mastrangelo's nightmare continues.
"I feel for the kid because I know how it is to get a bad deal in Cuba,"
says Mastrangelo, a well known, well-liked, happy-go-lucky Woodbridge
coffee truck operator. "They say with that car accident, they were
investigating a crime. I wish sometimes they would investigate some of
their own people."
So far, his wager cost him $40,000 in life savings on a relationship
with a now 38-year-old woman named Dagnery Tita Abreu. In Cuba, that
could end up as a sucker's bet.
"I really fell for her," he says of a woman he met in the village of
Santa Marta, near Veradero, in 2001 and married in 2004. "I wanted her
to feel like a queen."
He worked hard at that.
First there was a $6,000 beach wedding, then the purchase of land, the
hiring of tradesmen, the hunt for building materials and eventually a
state-of-the-art house with a custom kitchen and bathroom.
The problem is you can't officially own property in Cuba.
And you certainly can't put your name on it if you are not from there.
But in Cuba anything can be done for a price — the old Havana Hustle.
In this case, it was the Santa Marta Shuffle.
"I was given building permits and I was told since she was my wife, it
was my house," says Mastrangelo, who was admittedly naive.
Divorced 25 years, lonely and enjoying the company of an attractive
woman 25 years his junior, he fell into the tropical trap so many others
have, hook line and sinker.
Mastrangelo is a gullible but lovable type, the kind of guy who will do
anything for you.
He did lots for the love of his life.
He built the house, moved her in and started making plans for her come here.
Missing her in 2007, Mastrangelo jumped on a plane to surprise her.
In Cuba, a surprise can often lead to exactly that.
"I caught her with a Cuban guy," he says. "I understand I should have
known better but I really trusted her."
To add insult to injury, the guy was living with Mastrangelo's wife in
the house he built.
She is certainly able to tell her side of the story if she chooses but
Mastrangelo doesn't hate her as much as he feels violated. "I am over it
now but I took it pretty hard at the time," he says.
Duped and full of understandable Veradero Vengeance, he set out to
change the game and win some of his losses back.
But the game was rigged.
He hired local lawyers, sought help from the Canadian consulate and
Cuban government authorities. He wanted her out of his house.
"Sorry, no can do," was always the answer.
The house is in her name and she still lives there.
He divorced her in 2008 and tried to get some of the money out of his
house with no luck.
"I have been offered $300 for the house," laughs Mastrangelo. "In the
end it's my own fault and a lesson was learned."
His buddies tease him.
"I was thinking with my heart," he says.
For Mastrangelo, the issue now is trying to prevent it from happening to
someone else.
Keep your eyes wide open, he says.
There are many good Cuban people and many solid marriages, but there are
many trap doors, too.
Heck, the Latin-love-two-step is practically an industry down there.
They look not only for the naive but the kind.
And it's not just men. Women have been duped by Cuban men too and same
goes for same-sex relationship-frauds.
Truth is if you go even the slightest bit off track in Cuba, you could
find yourself in a real jackpot.
As Mastrangelo and Cody experienced, when you're playing the Cuban shell
game, it's a real risky roll of the dice.
http://www.torontosun.com/news/columnists/joe_warmington/2010/08/05/14934941.html
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