Page 12
the active age
October 2015
Cuba From page 1
for Fidel Castro, the longtime leader, plus the Cuban government and the Communist party elite who rule it. "There's such hypocrisy with them," he said. When Castro and his supporters took over in 1959, they said the country's problem was with the bourgeoisie, or the wealthy, but then they seized all the wealth and kept it for themselves and their cronies. "Now everyone is poor — except them." Mayans remembers growing up in Havana in the 1950s in a middle-class neighborhood. There was little crime, and life was good. They even took a vacation to nearby Key West, Fla., he said. That all changed with the revolution. It was dramatic, including bombs exploding in the streets, he said. Mayans never saw Castro, but he
Photo courtesy of Operation Perdo Pan Group
Temporary shelters such as this Pedro (Peter) Pan camp in Florida City, Fla., housed children from Cuba in the early 1960s until they were reunited with family or placed in foster homes.
saw the effects of his rule. He said on Sundays firing-squad executions were broadcast on TV. Dissent meant a swift death. He also remembers the failed Bay of Pigs invasion when U.S.backed fighters tried to retake Cuba. "It was chaos. There were Photo courtesy of Carlos Mayans searchlights From left, Carlos, Maria and Rolando Mayans.
and sirens everywhere." Heavy-handed people, known as “block parents,” managed their life. They demanded to know where you were going and what possessions you had in a house. Nothing could be moved without the permission of the block parents. Mayans worries that Americans don't know the full scope of the cruelty that occurred and is still going on.
A shared view He is not alone. Other former residents who left after Castro took over share many of his views. Wichitan Lazaro San Martin, a retired secondary school administrator, said, "things haven't changed there. It's the same dog, but a different color." San Martin left Cuba in 1962 as a young man. Like Mayans, he’s made See next page
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