The Empire Cuba Built Before 1959 In 1958, Havana's Vedado district functioned as the Manhattan of the Caribbean with high-rise penthouses, neon-lit boulevards, and air conditioning before most of Europe had access to it, while Cuba maintained the highest standard of living in Latin America with more cinema seats than New York City and more Cadillacs per capita than any other city on earth. The Cuban Peso traded one-to-one with the U.S. Dollar with no exchange rates or black markets, just pure s