Like almost everything else in Havana, the old Tropicana hotel and casino seems frozen in time. When I visited Cuba two years ago, the hotel was undergoing renovations, but its façade and interior lobby had not changed much since mobsters such as Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, Sam Giancana, and Santo Trafficante Jr. hung out in its nightclub. They mixed there with celebrities including Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Errol Flynn. Even John F. Kennedy, then a senator from Massachusetts, made frequent appearances. The cars parked in its lot were some of the latest models for 1958, shortly before Fidel Castro seized the country. The Hotel Nacional is busier with tourists drinking Cristal beers or sipping mojitos in its garden, served by state-employed waiters who could never afford the cocktails they make.

Talking to retired Cuban officials is like talking to Iranian diplomats, former ministers, and office heads. Many pay lip service........

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