Children of Cuban revolution recall exodus to US

AFP, MIAMI:  At the start of the Cuban revolution, Javier Llorens was one of thousands of children who left the island unaccompanied for the United States, thinking it would be temporary.
He is now 64 -- and is still in the United States.
Like many of the Cuban children who headed to America as part of what is now known as Operation Pedro Pan, named after the fictional leader of the orphaned Lost Boys, Llorens tells of a bittersweet experience.
“It was very hard, but from a good perspective, I would not be the person I am today without having gone through this crisis,” Llorens, now a dentist and married with two daughters, tells AFP.
Llorens began life in America in one of the shelters that was set up in Florida to receive some of the 14,000 children in an exodus from Cuba that began on December 26, 1960 and lasted until October 1962. He left Cuba with his 16-year-old brother on August 15, 1962 -- a date he says is etched in his memory.
“I remember having a rather bad cold with fever, but we had to leave—we had been making preparations for months and months. We needed to have courage,” he said.
Llorens’s parents made the difficult decision to temporarily part with their young children, fearing indoctrination by Fidel Castro’s communist government, a fear that spread among other families in Cuba.
“When the government of Fidel Castro took power in Cuba in 1959, everything changed. They started to strip people of their personal freedoms, they limited freedom of the press, they took away people’s homes,” says Eloisa Echazabal, who was 13 when she ended up in Miami on September 6, 1961 with her younger sister and three cousins.
“The final straw for my parents was when the government took over private and religious schools, and communism began to be taught in public schools.”
About half of the children who came to the United States were met by family or friends at the airport, according to Operation Pedro Pan Group Inc, which documents the stories of those who participated in the program.

 

Children of Cuban revolution recall exodus to US

AFP, MIAMI: At the start of the Cuban revolution, Javier Llorens was one of thousands of children who left the island unaccompanied for the United States, thinking it would be temporary. He is now 64 -- and is still in the United States. Like many of the Cuban children who headed to America as part of what is now known as Operation Pedro Pan, named after the fictional leader of the orphaned Lost Boys, Llorens tells of a bittersweet experience. It was very hard, but from a good perspective, I would not be the person I am today without having gone through this crisis, Llorens, now a dentist and married with two daughters, tells AFP. Llorens began life in America in one of the shelters that was set up in Florida to receive some of the 14,000 children in an exodus from Cuba that began on December 26, 1960 and lasted until October 1962. He left Cuba with his 16-year-old brother on August 15, 1962 -- a date he says is etched in his memory. I remember having a rather bad cold with fever, but we had to leavewe had been making preparations for months and months. We needed to have courage, he said. Llorenss parents made the difficult decision to temporarily part with their young children, fearing indoctrination by Fidel Castros communist government, a fear that spread among other families in Cuba. When the government of Fidel Castro took power in Cuba in 1959, everything changed. They started to strip people of their personal freedoms, they limited freedom of the press, they took away peoples homes, says Eloisa Echazabal, who was 13 when she ended up in Miami on September 6, 1961 with her younger sister and three cousins. The final straw for my parents was when the government took over private and religious schools, and communism began to be taught in public schools. About half of the children who came to the United States were met by family or friends at the airport, according to Operation Pedro Pan Group Inc, which documents the stories of those who participated in the program.