A wealthy Florida man donned his gayest apparel and acted as Santa Claus for Cuban children last Sunday. One man in red do not three kings make, chief:

Wearing a Santa suit and a wide grin, a wealthy Florida rancher doled out sneakers and sweets to Cuban children on Sunday, bringing holiday cheer to this communist-run island where the Christmas season goes largely unobserved.

About 150 kids ages 5 to 15 shrieked with pleasure, applauded and shouted “Viva Santa Claus!” as John Parke Wright tottered into an auditorium at a Roman Catholic convent on Havana’s eastern outskirts.

“Feliz Navidad!” he bellowed, Spanish for “Merry Christmas!”

The celebration actually marked “Three Kings Day,” a holiday popular in Latin America that commemorates the arrival of three wise men bearing gifts for the newborn Jesus.

It was the first time many of the children had seen Santa other than on television. Some came forward timidly and politely shook hands with Wright as he handed them shoes, athletic socks, candy and the occasional teddy bear. Others threw their arms around him.

Shoes? Socks? Yeah, we know what’s up. Santa only visited for the ho ho ho’s, if you’re picking up what we’re putting down.

Prostitutes.

Florida businessman plays Santa in Cuba; jailed dissidents’ kids get gifts from US exiles [International Herald Tribune]