HAVANA —
For years, Barbara Betancourt has left her two teenage daughters at home and put on black pants and a white shirt to go to the bar.
She is the face of an increasingly visible phenomenon in Cuba: the rise in female bartenders who break convention to benefit from the growing tourism industry.
“You have to be a strong woman. With a strong character. You can't be weak or have a husband who says, ‘You can't do it,’” she says as she whips a silver shaker.
But female bartenders are still struggling to gain more ground on the island.
Fewer than six women were contenders at The Pan-American Bartenders competition held at the end of August in Havana.
