MIAMI – It was a balmy 80 degrees on December 29th, 1962, at Miami’s Orange Bowl when then President John F. Kennedy and spouse Jackie welcomed dwelling 1,100 users of the 2506 Brigade that the president’s administration experienced ransomed out of Fidel Castro’s jails in the wake of the failure of the Bay of Pigs Operation.
Kennedy resolved the massive group stating, “I bring you my nation’s regard for your courage and for your induce.”
Sixty several years afterwards, convey up the name Kennedy to numerous Cubans and the word from them is generally “betrayal.” The unsuccessful invasion and a determination built by Kennedy at the time even now encourages heated discussions about the former president’s standing in the Cuban neighborhood.
The botched Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Disaster ended with a U.S. pledge to not invade Cuba ended up in the history at the massive Orange Bowl party. Rafael Montalvo, a member of the Brigade, was there.
“Him currently being there was a indication of regard for us and we definitely appreciated that. Jackie addresses us saying we are the bravest guys in the planet, we virtually began crying. But however, when he marched in front of me I could not salute. There was a little something in me that would not allow me. I had no bitterness, I had no detest. I was actually appreciative but I did not salute as I experienced no respect for him,” explained Montalvo.
Montalvo’s frank evaluation led to the long-held perception that outdated guard Cubans in no way actually forgave Kennedy, a Democrat. As they acquired citizenship and the appropriate to vote, they joined the Republican Party.
Which is an urban myth, in accordance to veteran Miami pollster, political operative, and Florida International College professor Dario Marino.
“The fact is, up to 1979 a plurality of Cuban Americans, and there were not numerous yet registered to vote, but 47 per cent were Democrats and only about a 3rd, 33 %, have been Republicans,” he stated.
The times the numbers are a great deal larger, according to a Pew study in 2020. It found nationwide 58 % of Cuban American registered voters said they affiliate with or lean toward the Republican Party.
Of course, there is the Bay of Pigs factor. The U.S. had promised air deal with for the invasion and at the previous second Kennedy withdrew it, but the guys of the 2506 Brigade made the decision to continue on. They ended up having captured, quite a few ended up killed.
As Cubans received citizenship, realizing they had been not returning to Cuba, a new but acquainted experience burst on the scene. Ronald Reagan.
Montalvo remembers Reagan in South Florida just like it was yesterday.
“I necessarily mean he arrived here, he addressed us with regard. He recognized us and he espoused all the conservative values that we consider in, which is truly what it really is all about,” claimed Montalvo.
“Ronald Regan was the very first presidential applicant to marketing campaign among Cuban Us residents in a very structured and proactive way,” claimed Marino.
Reagan’s 1983 pay a visit to to the Esquina Tejas Cafe in Tiny Havana experienced a large effect. That function, in which Reagan chatted up the city’s Cuban management, is legendary lore in the Cuban group. And then there is the flag, a Kennedy assure in no way fulfilled. The Brigade flag was presented to the young president.
“He told us that he was heading to return this flag to us in Cuba. The concept that we received is that the battle experienced not ended and that, that we would go and fight, struggle in Cuba,” mentioned Montalvo.
That flag now hangs in Very little Havana’s Bay of Pig Museum.
It has been 60 years considering that President Kennedy died in Dallas, some say shot by a guy who had connections to, or at minimum sympathy for, the Castro Revolution. The Castro program is however in electric power and the U.S. is nevertheless wrestling with the “Cuba Problem.”
