Operation Pedro Pan: The Untold Exodus of 14,048 Cuban Children

Conde was 10 when her parents put her on a flight to the U.S. alone. She was one of 14,048 children to make the trip via Operation Pedro Pan, a clandestine organization that smuggled visas into--and children out of--Cuba. This book is not a memoir, but a well-researched history of Operation Pedro Pan, a portrait of early revolutionary Cuba and a compendium of testimony from the now-grown children. As Conde shows, the near-unanimous joy at Castro's ascent turned to growing disillusionment and fear as he revealed his commitment to Communism. The rumor of a coming ""patria postetad,"" a document that allegedly would order all children over the age of three into State care, made exiling the children an attractive option for many. Operation Pedro Pan ultimately involved the Catholic church, the CIA, the State Department and multiple civic groups in the struggle to find U.S. homes for the children. About half were without relatives or friends on arrival and were placed in orphanages, foster homes or boarding schools until their parents could get visas to join them. Conde's study of Pedro Pan cases is interesting, but her conclusion--that as adults they are left straddling two cultures--could probably be said of any immigrant group. She is better at tracing the causes of the flight than analyzing the effects, especially as she treats her own story in the same brief and fragmentary manner as the other case histories she offers. 8 pages of photos not seen by PW. Author tour. (May)