Fleeing Castro

"The first complete and comprehensive work on these important, unique programs. . . . An interesting, humane, yet tragic component of the post-1959 Cuban experience and the Cold War in general."--Antonio Benitez-Rojo, Amherst College "The ordeal began [for the children] when their parents told them they had to travel alone and that they had to keep the upcoming trip a secret. The most powerful parts of the book are their accounts. . . . Through interviews with many of the participants—the children and their parents, the coordinators of the airlift, those in the underground in Cuba and the Catholic sponsors in the United States—Triay attempts to answer many of the questions the exodus raised."--Miami Herald A stirring account of the covert effort to smuggle Cuban children into the United States in the aftermath of Fidel Castro's rise to power, Fleeing Castro brings to light the humanitarian program designed to care for the children once they arrived and the hardship and suffering endured by the families who took part in Operation Pedro Pan. From late 1960 until the October 1962 missile crisis, 14,048 unaccompanied Cuban children left their homeland, the small island suddenly at the center of the Cold War struggle. Their parents, unable to obtain visas to leave Cuba, believed a short separation would be preferable to subjecting their offspring to Castro's totalitarian Marxist state. For the children, the exodus began a prolonged and tragic ordeal--some didn’t see their parents again for years; a few never did. Until now, this chapter of the Cuban Revolution has been relatively obscure. Initially the result of an effort by James Baker, headmaster of an American school in Cuba who worked closely with the anti-Castro underground, Pedro Pan quickly came to involve the Catholic Church in Miami and, in particular, Father Bryan Walsh, who established the Cuban Children's Program, the nationwide organization that cared for those children without relatives or friends in the United States--almost half of them. The latter program, in effect until 1981, was the first to allot federal money to private agencies for child care, an action with far-reaching repercussions for U.S. social policy. Victor Andres Triay traces this story from its political and social origins in Cuba, setting it in the context of the Cold War and describing the roles of the organizations involved in Cuba and in the United States. Making use of extensive interviews with Baker, Walsh, and influential underground figures, as well as personal letters that document the fears and dreams of both the parents and the children, Triay presents this history of Pedro Pan--the largest child refugee movement ever in the Western Hemisphere--with the drama of an international thriller and the pathos of a heartbreaking family drama.

 In 1959, Fidel Castro assumed power in Cuba after overthrowing the government of Fulgencio Batista. In response, thousands of Cubans fled the island, mostly to the United States. This book tells the stories of these Cubans in exile, all of whom overcame great obstacles to escape the brutal Castro regime. Neither a history of Cuba nor of Castro, this book illuminates the underrepresented legacy of the Cuban Exile Community and celebrates their continued thriving in a new country.

From Zeida's notes: In that summer of 1962 I was told to teach a group of basic secondary teachers a summer course in math. It was a nice group and we enjoyed it without ever talking of politics. But now my mind was made up. I was going to leave the country that very same year. Everything was completely controlled by the government. There was not any personal freedom. I didn't want my girls to grow up with such rigid controls. I wanted them free, so I had to leave. At the time she was not prepared for the obstacles she'd have to face. This is the story of one middle-class family who shares in the excitement of Castro's victory only to experience disillusionment and betrayal. Struggling against repression and economic hardships, Marina's mother, Zeida, a teacher and single mother, goes to extraordinary measures to protect her daughters and defend her principles. Marina Villa's illuminating account of life in Cuba during its communist transformation and the family's immigration to the United States is an inspiring gift that puts into full relief the Cuban-American experience. Marina uses excerpts from her mother's writings, interviews with friends and family members, and her own memories to tell her mother's story. Full of the same spirit her mother brought to her life, Leaving Castro's Cuba: The Story of an Immigrant Family recounts their journey while weaving a rich tapestry of familial sacrifice, courage, and love.

In this absorbing memoir, by turns humorous and heartbreaking, Eduardo Calcines recounts his boyhood and chronicles the conditions that led him to wish above all else to leave behind his beloved extended family and his home for a chance at a better future. Eduardo F. Calcines was a child of Fidel Castro's Cuba; he was just three years old when Castro came to power in January 1959. After that, everything changed for his family and his country. When he was ten, his family applied for an exit visa to emigrate to America and he was ridiculed by his schoolmates and even his teachers for being a traitor to his country. But even worse, his father was sent to an agricultural reform camp to do hard labor as punishment for daring to want to leave Cuba. During the years to come, as he grew up in Glorytown, a neighborhood in the city of Cienfuegos, Eduardo hoped with all his might that their exit visa would be granted before he turned fifteen, the age at which he would be drafted into the army.

Cuban-born Ozzie Sabina often asks himself, "What would life have been like if Fidel Castro had opened a law practice in Cuba instead of starting a revolution?" There's no doubt Castro's reign in Cuba changed a lot of lives, including that of author Ozzie Sabina. He escaped the country with his thirteen-year-old brother, William, in 1962 with the help of the United States and Operation Pedro Pan-a concerted effort that relocated more than 14,000 Cuban children. My Escape from Cuba is Sabina's story of growing up in Cuba and his subsequent move to the United States when he was only sixteen years old. This memoir encompasses much of Sabina's life: from growing up in a small town in Cuba, to his school days and his love of his close-knit family, to his first airplane trip to the United States, mastering the English language, and living with a new family in St. Petersburg, Florida. A compelling story that gives firsthand insight into what life was like in Cuba in the late 1950s and early 1960s; My Escape from Cuba shows the determination and courage of a young man making the most of his new life.

In this visionary sequel to Castro's Curveball, former Minor League catcher Billy Bryan finds himself back in Havana in 2016 with a small film role. He soon realizes that this place and his past remain as star-crossed as when he played winter ball in the Cuban capital decades before.