On December 22, 1946, The Havana
Conference kicked off. The conference had attendees from New York City, New
Jersey, Buffalo, Chicago, New Orleans and Florida. The largest delegation of
bosses was from the New York-New Jersey area. Several major bosses from the
Jewish Syndicate were also present to discuss joint La Cosa Nostra-Jewish
Syndicate business. The Jewish delegates had no voting power on Cosa Nostra
rules or policies, but there input was much welcomed on any joint business
ventures, such as the Flamingo Hotel.
The Havana Conference was opened
by Luciano with the topic of “Capo di tutti Capi” which translates into “Boss
of all Bosses” and was a position that would greatly affect his authority
within the American Mafia. The last person to officially hold this title was
Salvatore Maranzano who was murdered in early September 1931. In the last
quarter of 1931 Luciano abolished the title of “Capo di tutti Capi” and
replaced it with the Commission, a board of directors who would oversee
criminal activities of the mafia, control rules and set policies. Luciano and
the commission turned La Cosa Nostra into the most powerful criminal
organization in the United States.
Luciano could have easily named
himself “Capo di tutti Capi” after Maranzano’s death, but he decided to abolish
the position and run things from behind the scene with the help of the
commission. He was content with this arrangement until Vito Genovese came back
from exile in Italy. Genovese was previously the acting boss of the Luciano
family, while Luciano was in prison, but he had to run off to Italy to avoid a
murder charge. In his absence Frank Costello became the acting boss of the
family and when Genovese came back Costello was still the acting boss and
Genovese was left to be just a capo regime, a title he was not satisfied with.
Genovese had made it clear that he wanted to take control of the Luciano family.
As a result of Genovese’s hunger for power, tension started to fester between
Costello and Genovese factions. Luciano, who had no intention of retiring and
stepping down as boss of the Luciano family, knew he had to do something about
Genovese. Not only was Genovese acting like a nuisance and creating tension in
the Luciano family, he was also becoming a continuing threat with support from
other bosses to Luciano’s power, authority and influence within the American
mafia. Therefore, Luciano decided to resurrect the position of “Capo di tutti
Capi” and crown himself the “Boss of all Bosses”. Luciano hoped the other
bosses would support him, either by officially affirming the title and
accepting him as the “Capo di tutti Capi” or at least by acknowledging that he
was still “First Amongst Equals”.
