Annie with some Cuban Residents at the Cuban Community Center
My children will tell you that I have drug them through more museums over the years than they care to remember. They flatly refuse to go the Charles Russell museum with me anymore, but I could spend hours more there. I love history. I have often thought I missed my calling and should have been an archeologist or an anthropologist. When I retire, I would love to go to Israel and work on a Biblical archeological dig. (That’s number 2 on the bucket list after seeing the pyramids).
Living on a base as historic as Guantanamo is fascinating to a history nerd like me. When my kids were here at Christmas, I drug them through (you guessed it) the Lighthouse Museum. I also had them go on the NW Gate tour . So when an opportunity came my way to interact with some local, history-bearers first hand. I jumped at the chance.
Prior to the Cuban revolution in 1958-59, thousands of Cubans commuted to the base daily to work. They held a variety of service related jobs on base. They worked as bartenders in the clubs, horseshoers in the stables, laundresses at the hospital, and many, many other occupations. As relations between Cuba and the United States deteriorated, the numbers of commuters diminished. Castro made life difficult for the commuters, but he allowed anyone who had been working for the base to continue.
Many of these commuters were being approached by Castro’s men to become spies for Castro. They were also approached by individuals/acquaintances and questioned to determine their loyalty to Castro. If the person didn’t agree to spy, or didn’t answer the loyalty questions correctly, they could be seen as a subversive and targeted for arrest or elimination. Little by little many Cuban commuters found themselves in situations in which they felt their lives were in danger. At this point, they approached their supervisor on base and sought political asylum. Several hundred Cuban’s have made their home on the base at one time or another. Some immigrated to the United States or other countries. Many remained on base working until retirement. Today, there are about 33 Cuban resident remaining on base. The last two commuters retired in 2012.
Recently the Cuban Community Center approached the school with the offer to partner with the school on educational projects. At semester, I inherited the ninth-grade Honor’s English class. So I jumped on this opportunity. We met several times with the Cuban residents and my students are finishing writing biographies of these residents. This has been a once in a lifetime opportunity to interview first-hand participants and observers of some of the most important historical events in the last half of the twentieth century.
These residents remember Cuba before Castro. They lived through the revolution. They were here during the Bay of Pigs envision; they were here during the Cuban Missile Crisis; they were here during the Haitian Boat Crisis; they were here for the Cuban exodus; they were here for the arrival of the first detainees after 9/11 and they continue to witness changes at the base first hand.
They told my students many interesting stories. One couple knew Castro’s predecessor, Batista. Another worked with Castro’s younger sister and played baseball with his older brother. One resident described being approached to spy for Castro because he could speak both English and Spanish. They told about leaving children in Cuba; in some cases never to see those children again. They told about not being able to tell anyone when they were planning to seek asylum because they didn’t know who to trust. They talked about how anyone who was a threat to the Castro regime was eliminated.
None of the residents regretted their decision to seek asylum. None have any desire to return to Cuba as long as the Castro brothers were in control. They remember a free Cuba. And even though Batista’s regime was not without corruption, they felt free and safe then.
I am so glad my students and especially Annie had the opportunity. The Cuban exiles were so great to the students and seemed to enjoy the opportunity to share their stories.
shawberget 