For Castro's revolutionary government, the resurgence of a widespread and large-scale prostitution industry has been a thorn in the side of its 40-year socialist revolution.

In 1959, Castro led a guerrilla movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Flugencio Batista, an American puppet dictator who fostered widespread corruption and guarded the island's industries for North American investors.

One of the revolution's successes was the virtual eradication of prostitution, which proliferated and was even encouraged during Batista's dictatorship to accommodate American pleasure-seekers. The revolutionary government implemented a sweeping training program that taught prostitutes skills that could be used in the work force. But 40 years later, prostitution is back and with a vengeance.

The resurgence of prostitution has more to do with economic forces than any cultural or social change. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Eastern European communist countries in 1989, Cuba effectively lost 89 percent of its export trade. Before that date, Cubans enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle thanks to hefty subsidies from the Soviet Union. By 1990, all that vanished.

To compound the island's economic woes, the United States continues to maintain a tight economic embargo against the communist regime, which has seriously limited the government's ability to seek out trading partners. Short on options, the Castro government opted to aggressively develop a tourist industry on the island. In the last decade, the industry has grown exponentially, attracting droves of European and North America vacationers.

An onerous by-product of the collapse of the Cuban economy and increase in tourism has been the resurgence of prostitution. Initially, this "social evil," which is still illegal, was tolerated as perhaps a necessary sacrifice to pull the country out of its economic freefall. Havana's boardwalk became a major thoroughfare for streetwalkers and after dark, women, young and old, can be seen looking for customers.

It wasn't until January of this year that the government finally addressed the issue. In a televised speech Castro condemned the growing prevalence of "anti-social activities" on the streets of Havana and announced that he would confront the problem by placing special police forces throughout downtown Havana. Castro's policy did not significantly decrease prostitution but instead drove it underground. Increased police oppression has also increased the risk for Cuban women who work the trade without addressing the root of the problem: economic desperation and a tourist industry based on the sale of cheap sex.

Furthermore, the Castro government continues to operate "re-education" facilities, which are reportedly akin to low-security labor camps, aimed at indoctrinating recalcitrant prostitutes with the socialist work ethic. According to official figures 7,000 women were stopped by the police last year in Havana alone, but many observers believe these statistics are grossly reduced to avoid public alarm.

Similar to countries like Thailand, Cuba is now considered a key stop-off on the international sex-tourism circuit. From Western European countries, Canada, Japan and Mexico charter companies offer package vacations aimed at single male travelers. Employees at Havana's biggest hotels openly wink at Cuban escorts who "accompany" foreigners to their hotel rooms. The poolside at Havana's Copacabana hotel, for example, is a throwback to the pre-revolutionary carnal atmosphere that once prevailed when Havana was known by the pseudonym "Sin City". There, overweight, middle-aged men bask in the sun while young Cuban women dote by their sides. One Italian sunbather remarked to his companion, "for $50 a day she better be good." His escort, initially shocked, later replied with an assuaging giggle.

Sex tourists, who are led to believe that Cuban women are simply sensual creatures with a penchant for foreigners, pay anywhere from $5 and $100 for their hired companions. Some men pay for a weeklong "girlfriend" while others pick up women who roam the boardwalk after hours. Payment can be in the form of cash or in "gifts," usually imported items that are unavailable in Cuba such as expensive clothing, perfumes and shoes.

Prostitutes are not necessarily looked down upon in Cuban society. In fact, they aren't actually called "prostitutes" but instead jinetara, a euphemism which refers to anyone who hustles for tourist dollars. The epidemic in jineterismo, or hustling, is seen as one of the great ironies of the modern Cuban revolution.

"When women are prostituting how can we take all this (communist) rhetoric seriously? I have many friends that work as jineteras, but it's out of necessity," said Tomas Ochoa, a 20-year-old pharmacist whose main income comes from selling cigars to tourists.

Other Cubans hold steadfast to the idea that the resurgence of a seedy black market is a necessary bi-product of the island's difficult transitional period from a Soviet-supported nation to a country struggling to keep its head above water in the treacherous waters of the global economy.

"In order to survive we have had to cut off our own arm. The question is: How far are we willing to cut in order to preserve our basic health?" explained Alejandro, a Communist party official.

Nanna, a 20 year old, unemployed single mother from Havana is one of many Havana women who have opted out of the socialist system and chosen to prostitute for a living. A striking girl with jet-black hair, fair skin and a childish smile, Nanna juggles her roles as breadwinner, mother, paid-lover and young woman.

Nanna shares an apartment, a barren cement cubbyhole, with her son, and uncle. One aspect sets her apartment apart from her neighbors' however -- Nanna's room is a showcase of expensive clothing, shoes and jewelry. This stockpile of trendy goods is Nanna's trophy earned during several years of working the jinetera trade.

Several nights a week, Nanna leaves her three-year old son with a neighbor and hits the bars of Havana's up-scale tourist district. Coveted dollars in hand, she returns from one night with a wealthy Canadian yachter the next morning to pick up her son, buy groceries for the family and clean her apartment. Unlike in many Cuban homes, Nanna's apartment always has food on the table and boasts several modern appliances such as a VCR and stereo.

"There is no opportunity for me in this system. What are we supposed to do?" she explains.

Nanna's choice represents the growing disillusionment of Cuban youth with Castro's communist government. With soaring unemployment and persistent food shortages, many young Cubans have grown apathetic to the promises of the revolution.

As political uncertainty prevails in light of Castro's ailing health, Cuba braces itself for an unpredictable future. And unless the next government adopts a more progressive approach to the sex-trade epidemic, prostitution will likely become a more permanent fixture of modern Cuba.