An Interview with Oscar Boruchin

Owner of Licenciados and 8-9-8 Collection cigars.

Marvin R. Shanken
From the Print Edition:
Wayne Gretzky, Mar/Apr 97

(continued from page 1)

Boruchin: I came to America in 1961. I was 27 years old.

CA: Where did you go to college?

Boruchin: In Havana.

CA: What did you major in?

Boruchin: I didn't major. I married and I never finished college. I went to work with my father-in-law in the shoe business. We were big importers of materials to manufacture shoes. When Castro came in 1959, we were well established. I didn't leave Cuba because I was persecuted but because my business died. Importations were not allowed. All the shoe factories were intervened by the government. I had no way to make a living. Since I had no way to make a living in that system, I felt it was not one in which I could progress.

CA: Do you still have family members in Cuba?

Boruchin: Very few. A couple of cousins.

CA: But you were the first in your family to leave.

Boruchin: I was the first one in my family to take the jump, in 1961.

CA: What was it like? Did you have difficulty leaving Cuba to go to America?

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