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Biography

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 Fidel Castro's iron fist. Settling in Miami, mother and daughter toughed it out without the rest of their family, until Veronica's father arrived. Mayra veronica takes acting classes Though the family was reunited, they struggled financially and Mayra grew up poor. She loved ballet, but because the family could not afford the dance school fees, Mayra was given a second option: recruit seven friends to attend ballet and she could take lessons for free. 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 continued making waves on Don Francisco Presenta where hers became the top selling calendar in '2005 according to the Univision Network. 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. The album, produced by Kike Santander and Roy Tavares made headlines on King magazine where it stated "Mayra Veronica's moaning makes Madonna' Erotica sound like Bubble gum Pop... chew on that Daddy Yankee" Her body and voice were used as a character for the 2007 video game, Def Jam: Icon. Mayra currently inked a multi-million dollar record deal with CMG/UNIVERSAL MOTOWN and is preparing for her English release next year.