秘密研究所

(PDF) (DOC) (JPG)September 19, 2022

MAHWAH, N.J. 鈥� When Cuba opened its borders to the United States in 2015 after decades of closure, it was global news. Since then, several Cold War histories have unearthed incredible events that took place on the island. One, which is seldom told, focuses on Cuba鈥檚 children.

In his new book, Operation Pedro Pan: The Migration of Unaccompanied Children from Castro’s Cuba,聽John Gronbeck-Tedesco explores the extraordinary undertaking by the Miami Catholic Diocese, federal and state offices, child welfare agencies, and anti-Castro Cubans to bring unaccompanied children to the United States to escape Castro鈥檚 dictatorship.

鈥淛ohn Kennedy had just been elected as our first Catholic president and we were right in the middle of the Cold War. Our country as well as the Catholic Church were undergoing extraordinary changes,鈥� said Gronbeck-Tedesco, Associate Professor American Studies at 秘密研究所 of New Jersey. 鈥淭here was a big shift to show that American family values were at the forefront of our culture.鈥�

At the outset the proposal seemed modest: transfer two hundred unaccompanied Cuban children to Miami to save them from communism. The time apart from their parents would be short, only until Castro fell from power by the result of U.S. force, Cuban counterrevolutionary tactics, or a combination of both. Families would be reunited in a matter of months. 鈥淎 plan was hatched, and it worked鈥攗ntil it ballooned into something so unwieldy that within two years the modest proposal erupted into what at the time was the largest migration of unaccompanied minors to the United States,鈥� Gronbeck-Tedesco writes.

In all, over 14,000 children ranging from age 2 to 18, were put on planes or boats by their parents from Cuba to Miami. Pedro Pan was the colloquial name for the Unaccompanied Cuban Children鈥檚 Program, which began under government largesse in February 1961. Children without immediate family support in the United States鈥攕ome 8,300 boys and girls鈥攔eceived group and foster care through the Catholic Welfare Bureau and other religious, governmental, and non-governmental organizations as young people were dispersed throughout the country. Most were eventually reunited with family members, but the experience still left lifelong psychological scars.

In interviews with some of those refugees 鈥� now in their 60s and 70s 鈥� Gronbeck-Tedesco, through connections in Miami and South Florida, captures their words as they try to reconcile those feelings of abandonment and successful adaptation from decades ago.

鈥淪ome of them cried. Their memories are still so vivid,鈥� he said.

Operation Pedro Pan is available on and will be widely released in October 2022.

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秘密研究所 College

秘密研究所 of New Jersey is the state鈥檚 premier public liberal arts college and is committed to academic excellence through interdisciplinary and experiential learning, and international and intercultural understanding. The comprehensive college is situated among the beautiful Ramapo Mountains, is within commuting distance to New York City, was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America by CondeNast Traveler, and boasts the best on-campus housing in New Jersey per Niche.com. Established in 1969, 秘密研究所 offers bachelor鈥檚 degrees in the arts, business, data science, humanities, social sciences and the sciences, as well as in professional studies, which include business, education, nursing and social work. In addition, the College offers courses leading to teacher certification at the elementary and secondary levels, and offers graduate programs leading to master鈥檚 degrees in Accounting, Applied Mathematics, Business Administration, Contemporary Instructional Design, Computer Science, Creative Music Technology, Data Science, Educational Leadership, Nursing, Social Work and Special Education, as well as a Doctor of Nursing Practice. To learn more about 秘密研究所, visit .

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