Mayra Veronica (Celebrity In Spotlight)

Born in Havana, Cuba, Mayra Veronica Aruca Rodriguez was heavily influenced by her father Arturo, a singer for the one-time popular rock group Los Dada. As Veronica followed her father to rehearsals and shows during her youth, she came to love entertaining and the arts. Her development as an entertainer was slowed after Mayra and her mother, whose name is also Mayra, defected to the United States in hopes of a better life away from Cuba.

Mayra is the youngest of two children of Mayra Rodríguez and Arturo Aruca. Her oldest sister Giselle Guzmán is seventeen years her senior from a different father. Mayra's father was a famous singer and musician in Cuba for the top rock band of the times "Los Dada" a name derived from the popular art movement Dadaism. Mayra arrived from Cuba at the age of 4 with her mother. Once in America the two struggled without any money living in shelters until Mayra's father arrived. Upon his arrival the three settled in small studio apartments throughout her childhood. The relationship between the parents was severely strained, resulting in a very difficult childhood and early adolescence for Mayra. She was later trained in classical dance, organic acting, voice, and ultimately graduated from Florida International University with a Psychology degree and minor in Theatre.

Mayra first became noticed on Univision's Don Francisco Presenta where her role as the model with the voluptuous body caught the attention of FHM magazine US edition. After appearing in FHM she was included in its 2004 calendar and went on to do the covers and feature spreads to Smooth, King, Edge Magazine, Maxim, Open Your Eyes, was chosen as the Cover for FHM's Exclusive Collection Book, and was included amongst top A listers on the cover of Smoke Magazine, a magazine that had never previously been graced by a Cuban woman only American Oscar winners. She made appearances on many Spanish language television shows and won the audiences favorite after they voted following her appearance on (El Gordo y la Flaca) Mayra appeared as the lead to Frankie J's hit video (Pensando en Ti) and did countless national commercials including a Nike Campaign with Lebron James, Loreal, Ford, Burger King, Coca Cola.She was on Spanish news indiscriminately for dating Donald Trump's partner Gil Dezer and after that for suing a strip club after they unlawfully used her pictures. During that time Mayra worked on a solo Spanish Album whose single "Vengo Con To' earned her a spot on New York's top 10 at La Mega in Oct of 2006 and was interviewed by top entertainment shows including Extra.