Operation Peter Pan - how the Americans took 14,000 children from Cuba

The operation to “rescue” Cuban children by American intelligence, despite its considerable scope, did not become known in wide circles. Therefore, few people today know that from 1960 to 1962 the CIA, together with the US government, took 14 thousand children of different ages from Liberty Island. The operation was called "Peter Pan" in honor of the fairy-tale hero - the boy who never grows up.

Immediately after the revolution, which ended at the very beginning of 1959, the new Cuban government began reforms. In 1960, it was the turn of the education sector. High schools were abolished and youth camps opened in their place. In them, children and teenagers were taught the intricacies of agricultural work, as well as military affairs. The youth were motivated by the fact that the most diligent ones would be sent to study.

But not all parents correctly understood the positive message of the new government. Rumors spread among people that the children would be sent overseas to do hard and harmful work. The unfriendly Americans immediately took advantage of this. The CIA launched a real campaign to spread rumors causing panic. A major role was played by the pirate radio Swan, which broadcast alarming programs from one of the Cisne Islands in the Caribbean.

The situation was escalated so skillfully that when the US authorities proposed evacuating the children from the island, many parents agreed. To send a child to the States, parents had to apply for a visa at the US Embassy in Havana, as well as pay $25 for the flight. Thus, 14 thousand young Cubans left the country, leaving their parents and home. These were children and teenagers of different ages, but most of them were aged 12-15 years.

The children were flown to Miami, Florida. The evacuees were then distributed to specially organized camps in 35 US states. From there, the children were sent to foster families. The process was supervised by Father Brian Walsh from the “charitable organization” Catholic Social Security Bureau. The operation ended only during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when air traffic between the countries ceased.

Fidel Castro called Operation Peter Pan a cynical stunt organized by American propagandists. He even wrote an article on this subject, entitled “The Envy of Goebbels.” The archives of the US government still contain more than one and a half thousand classified documents relating to this evacuation.

The removal of children was not covered in the press, and only some Miami residents and the families who adopted Cuban children knew about it. What happened to them then? Some remained in the USA and forgot their real parents, others returned to their homeland barely reaching adulthood.