Tony Mendoza

After Soviet aid dried up in 1991 (when the USSR collapsed), the Cuban economy was in dire straits. The government tried to encourage tourism and allowed greater economic freedoms to the Cuban population—anything to bring money into the country during the so-called "Special Period" of the 1990s.

During the Special Period, private individuals such as artists and artisans were permitted to sell their wares directly to foreign tourists. This was quite a concession since Cuban socialism frowned on entrepreneurialism. One by-product of this arrangement to accommodate tourism was the jineteros and jineteras. Literally translated from the Spanish as "jockeys," these male and female street hustlers sold Cubanmade goods, especially high-quality rum and cigars, on the black market for dollars. Many of the young, attractive jineteros and jineteras also prostituted themselves for payment in American dollars...