MIAMI (AP) — Manuel Portuondo was still a teenager in 1960 when his family, like thousands of others, fled Cuba for Miami, following the culmination of the Cuban Revolution a year earlier.
Soon after, while still attending school, Portuondo learned of a military force of Cuban refugees being organized by the United States government. He and several classmates decided to enlist.
“As an 18-year-old with a lot of ideals and a big heart, I wanted to be back in my country and be free and be able to do what I wanted,” Portuondo said. “I enrolled in the invasion and shipped to Guatemala for training.”
Remembering the invasion
About 1,500 Cuban exiles, with the backing of the CIA, attempted to invade the island nation at the Bay of Pigs on April 17, 1961, in an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro’s fledgling Communist government. More than 100 of the U.S.-backed fighters either drowned or were killed in action. Another 1,200 of the fighters, known as Brigade 2506, were taken prisoner after running out of ammunition and spent about 20 months in captivity before their release was negotiated.
Today, only about 200 of the veterans remain, the youngest of whom are in their 80s. They’re hosting the grand reopening of the Bay of Pigs Brigade 2506 Museum and Library in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood this month to coincide with the 65th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
“The museum’s purpose is not only to cement the legacy of what thousands of men did on that day, but also, from a historic perspective, to tell the new generations that freedom has a price,” Portuondo said.
Rafael Montalvo, president of the Brigade 2506 Veterans Association, said the museum will also educate visitors about the harm caused by decades of Communist dictatorship.
“The Bay of Pigs is a historical moment that defined the future of Cuba, of the United States, of Miami, and of many Latin American countries, because the failure of that intervention made communism stay in Cuba forever and change the country completely,” Montalvo said.
The Cuban Revolution started in 1953 as an armed revolt, led by Castro, against the U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista. Following an early failed attack, revolutionaries reorganized as a guerrilla force, and the movement gained support among Cuban citizens dissatisfied with inequality and corruption. Batista fled the island on Jan. 1, 1959, leaving Castro to take power, establish a socialist state, nationalized foreign assets and become allies with the former Soviet Union. Nearly a quarter million Cubans had fled to the U.S. by the time of the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962.
Supporting the president
Like most older Cuban Americans, most Brigade members have historically leaned conservative. But the group broke with a half-century tradition of not endorsing individual candidates by officially supporting U.S. President Donald Trump ’s first campaign and then reaffirming that endorsement four years later.
“You have to understand that Trump, in 2016, he came here and campaigned,” Montalvo said. “And we, for the first time ever, backed a president — politically backed him. And he made certain promises to us when he was here.”
Those promises included adding new sanctions to Cuba and reversing former President Barack Obama’s policies that loosened restrictions on travel and commerce. Now they’re hoping that Trump can finally remove the current Cuban government for good, which will likely require action from the U.S. military.
Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have called for a change in Cuba’s leadership, with ongoing talks between the U.S. and Cuba in their early stages, according to Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel. A punishing U.S. blockade has led to increased blackouts, with just a single fuel delivery in the past three months.
While Montalvo sees the need for the U.S. military, he doesn’t want a U.S. invasion and occupation of Cuba. The ideal situation would be a revolt by Cuban citizens with backing from the U.S., followed by American investment and infrastructure to redevelop the island.
“I don’t want to see American boots on the ground in Cuba,” Montalvo said. “I would hate to see an American soldier die because of Cuba’s freedom. I mean, we have to die ourselves before that happens.”
Montalvo said his group trusts Rubio, a Miami-born Cuban American, to guide Trump. But whatever happens, Montalvo said the current government in Cuba needs to be removed completely.
“We ask them that if they’re not going to get rid of the mafia that is in power right now, don’t do anything,” Montalvo said. “Because to make change in Cuba that is just for the photographs, like they did in Venezuela, in Cuba it’s not going to work.”
In January, Trump directed the U.S. military to enter Venezuela and capture then-President Nicolas Maduro. Maduro’s party remains in power, and Maduro’s former vice president now leads the country.
Fighting for Freedom
Carlos Leon, a member of Brigade 2506, said he might be more naive than his brothers. Still, despite never questioning or regretting his own participation in the Bay of Pigs Invasion, he just doesn’t see how dropping bombs and killing people is going to improve anything in Cuba. Leon acknowledged that Trump’s war in Iran has made it even less clear that his administration can effectively liberate Cuba.
“How many Cubans are you going to kill? How many more enemies in Cuba are you going to create by killing all those Cubans?” Leon said. “How do you feel because the gringos send the Marines and the Air Force and kill or mutilate X number of Cubans? What kind of a country, what kind of morale do you have as a Cuban?”
The original Bay of Pigs museum opened in 1988 at an old home in Little Havana. It held a collection of photographs, documents and other memorabilia, as well as a documentary film about the three-day invasion. The new two-story, 11,000-square-foot facility was constructed on the same spot with funding from Miami-Dade County, the state of Florida and private donors.
The new building officially opens Friday with a ceremony for Brigade members and their families. The museum will reopen to the public after that.
Ernesto Freyre said joining Brigade 2506 was the most important action he has taken in his life.
“It was the biggest purpose and commitment that I took upon myself,” Freyre said.
Freyre said he’s been dreaming of a liberated Cuba since almost immediately after Castro took over. After nearly seven decades, he’s not sure if that will happen in his lifetime, with or without U.S. help.
“But at least I’m hoping that my descendants do see it,” Freyre said.