The Pedro Pans attack, but only the women
Al’s Loupe
The Pedro Pans attack, but only the women
By Alvaro F. Fernandez
alvaro@progresoweekly.com
Almost three years ago we lost Elly Chovel, the woman responsible for founding the Pedro Pan organization in Miami. Elly dedicated a good slice of her life to this effort. She was its driving force. Her greatest feat as leader of the Pedro Pans may have been her ability to keep her members from going after each other because of political differences. The organization was her labor of love; she did not allow it to take sides on any political issue. Which did not mean Elly lacked political opinions. It was just not the organization’s mission.
Elly knew and was well liked by people from all sides of the Cuba discussion. She was respected. I don’t ever remember anyone speak badly of Elly.
She came to mind this past weekend. I believe she would have been disappointed with what is occurring among some of her Pedro Pan friends.
I am referring to a Miami group, who also arrived in this country as Pedro Pan children and who now represent the organization created by Ms. Chovel. Twenty-nine of these individuals, in a letter published Sunday by The Miami Herald editorial section, attack two Pedro Pan women who appear in a CNBC documentary titled “Escape from Havana, An American Story.” Their ire is also directed at the cable news network for what they refer to as manipulative reporting of the Pedro Pan episode.
Showing more passion and well-deserved pain than smarts, the signing group basically denies CIA involvement in the 1960s operation which ended up transporting more than 14,000 Cuban children to the U.S. without their parents. In the letter, the Catholic Church is defended fiercely, and as is usually the case in Cuban Miami, the boogey man turns out to be Fidel Castro.
Let me state unequivocally that I am not here to defend Fidel Castro. It would be preposterous of me to suddenly believe I am needed in defending someone who outlasted 10 U.S. presidents. In other words, I believe Fidel did pretty well without my help. But, as I have written in the past, Pedro Pan was NOT Fidel’s doing. And I do have personal knowledge of the Pedro Pan operation. This travesty belongs to the U.S., its CIA and lots of shame on the Catholic Church for participating and profiting from a plan where children as young as five were used for the hope of political gain while expecting the destabilization of a nascent government.
But the actual Operation Pedro Pan is not why I write my column this week. The reason for taking the time to write these words is because I found the letter of attack by the Pedro Pan trustees and Board of Directors interesting. And I say interesting because until today I have yet to quite understand why they concentrate on Maria de los Angeles Torres and fiercely attack Silvia Wilhelm. Why the two women, while leaving out the men who appeared in the documentary? One of whom is Carlos Saladrigas, considered a pillar of our community by some.
And what is the Miami Herald’s role in this blatant attack? Yes, it is an attack a la Miami. If you read the letter carefully they write, “We deplore the manipulation of the Operation Pedro Pan story by giving a forum to Silvia Wilhelm’s open advocacy of the Cuban Government’s agenda…”
In other words, the group of 29 is implying that this is NOT Silvia’s agenda, but the Cuban government’s. Not a well-intentioned line. Firstly, it demonstrates the intolerance of these individuals. Silvia won’t jump through their hoops, so let’s attack her. The freedom of thought and action they vehemently criticize the other side for curtailing is OK when they deny it. Also, this is the same Silvia Wilhelm who some irresponsible idiots have tried to tie wrongly to Cuba in the past.
And shame on The Miami Herald for allowing this letter to run! Why did it ignore the fact that a community stalwart like Carlos Saladrigas was left out (of the letter), while allowing him his own op-ed piece (“Let the dissidents lead us”) on page five of the same section? Coincidence? I think not…
I would say that the Herald has once again tried playing both sides of the Cuba issue, while showing, as usual, deference for the guy with the deep pockets.
Finally, I don’t know Maria Torres, but I do know Silvia Wilhelm. Which should lead me to answer some of my own queries on the attack. Let me put it this way, in one day of work (and she is indefatigable) Silvia does more for Cuba and its people than probably all 29 of the letter’s signatories have accomplished in a lifetime. Which tells me… they’re basically jealous.
Still, the Pedro Pan organization was set-up to help children in need of the love every child deserves. It was never meant to be an instrument of public attacks. I am convinced that if Elly Chovel had still been around, this letter would never have happened.
