UC San Diego UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Understanding Elián : the politics of childhood in Miami and Havana, 1959-1962 Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7xj0944m Author Casavantes Bradford, Anita Publication Date 2011 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Understanding Elián: The Politics of Childhood in Miami and Havana, 1959-1962 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Anita Casavantes Bradford Committee in charge: Professor Luís Alvarez, Chair Professor Raúl Fernández Professor David Gutiérrez Professor Christine Hunefeldt Professor John Skrentny Professor Daniel Widener 2011 Copyright Anita Casavantes Bradford, 2011 All rights reserved. Signature Page The Dissertation of Anita Casavantes Bradford is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: Chair University of California, San Diego 2011 iii DEDICATION To my mother and father, who did their best; to God, for sheltering and sustaining me; and to Mike, who makes everything possible. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page ................................................................................................................... iii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ................................................................................................................ v List of Figures .................................................................................................................. viii Acknowledements .............................................................................................................. ix Vita ..................................................................................................................................... xi Abstract of the Dissertation ............................................................................................. xiii Introduction: The Politics of Childhood in Havana and Miami, 1959-1962 ...................... 1 Towards a Theory of Childhood: The Child as Nation-Maker ............................. 11 Childhood and the “Two Cubas”: A Brief Historiography ................................... 20 Methodology and Sources..................................................................................... 30 Organization .......................................................................................................... 37 Chapter 1: The Road to Revolution: Childhood, the Cuban Republic, and US-Cuba Relations, 1898-1958 ........................................................................................................ 42 Childhood and the Cuban Independence Struggle, 1868-1898 ............................ 43 Cuban Children and the US Occupation: 1899-1902 ........................................... 48 The Child Republic: 1902-1933............................................................................ 53 The Second Republic: 1933-1958 ......................................................................... 64 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 87 Chapter 2: La Revolución—es Para los Niños ? Castro, Revolution, and the Children .... 89 A Nation Reborn: The Triumph of the Revolution ............................................... 91 Castro and the Children: The Church, Anti-Communism, and the Origins of Dissent ............................................................................................................ 103 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 124 v Chapter 3: The Politics of Morality: Childhood and Civil Society in Revolutionary Cuba, 1959-1960 ....................................................................................................................... 126 Civil Society and Middle Class Activism in Revolutionary Cuba ..................... 129 Navidades en Cuba Libre: Nationalism, Fidelismo and the Politics of Morality............................................................................................................... 141 Castro, the Children, and the Supression of Civil Society .................................. 160 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 168 Chapter 4: Children, Radicalization and the Cuban Counter-Revolution, 1960-1961 ... 171 1960: Children, Radicalization and Counter-Revolution .................................... 174 1961: Año de la Educación ................................................................................. 191 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 224 Chapter 5: Creating the Exile Community: The Politics of Childhood in Miami, 1959- 1961................................................................................................................................. 227 Cuban Immigration and Racial Politics in Pre-Civil Rights South Florida ........ 229 Cuban Children, the Cold War and the Exile Creation Myth, 1959-1961 .......... 238 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 273 Chapter 6: Creating the Exile Community, Part Two: Children and the Anti-Castro Struggle, 1959-1962 ........................................................................................................ 277 Children, the Exile Creation Myth and the Forging of a Counter-Revolutionary Consensus ........................................................................................................... 279 Children and the Anti-Castro Struggle ............................................................... 285 “Queremos Abrir Esta Puerta :” Children, the Bay of Pigs and Beyond ............ 310 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 330 Conclusion: Understanding Elián: The Politics of Childhood in Havana and Miami, 1959-1999 ....................................................................................................................... 333 vi Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 358 Secondary Sources .............................................................................................. 358 Primary Sources: Government Hearings, Documents, and Studies .................... 375 Primary Sources: Church and Civic Organization Publications ......................... 376 Primary Sources: Books, Newspapers, Magazines and Journals ........................ 376 Primary Sources: Memoirs and Oral Histories ................................................... 381 Primary Sources: Fiction, Essays and Poetry ..................................................... 382 Primary Sources: Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami Otto G. Richter Library .................................................................................................... 383 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Cartoon, two war criminals flying an airplane ................................................ 101 Figure 2: Photograph, two boys holding a pro-Fidel banner .......................................... 108 Figure 3: Photograph, Che holding a baby (top) and Camilo playing pool with peasants (bottom)............................................................................................................... 111 Figure 4: Advertisement, girl riding bike in front of a new house ................................. 113 Figure 5: Advertisement, boy planting tree .................................................................... 115 Figure 6: Photograph, two boys marching ...................................................................... 118 Figure 7: Cartoon, peasant waving, “ Gracias , Fidel!” ................................................... 147 Figure 8: Cartoon, children decorating a Christmas tree ................................................ 148 Figure 9: Cartoon, Three Kings holding a house ............................................................ 153 Figure 10: Photograph, children holding signs protesting, at the burning of “reactionary” newspapers .......................................................................................................... 164 Figure 11: Photograph, girl in a hammock ..................................................................... 215 Figure 12: Photograph, toddler holding an adult’s hand................................................. 256 Figure 13: Photograph, baby with sign pinned on her dress ........................................... 272 Figure 14: Catholic Propaganda flyer ............................................................................. 306 Figure 15: Propaganda flyer, “ Queremos Abrir Esta Puerta ” ........................................ 321 Figure 16: Cartoon,“Excuse me, Sir, which is the line for meat?” ................................. 323 Figure 17: Photograph, “ Aquí No Llora Nadie! ” ............................................................ 329 Figure 18: Photograph, Elián González being taken from his family