Our guest blogger this month is Hiran Hernandez, one of our collaborators for the im4u.world project. Hiran is a proud first generation Cuban-American who credits his success in life, in no small part, to the courage of his parents and the sacrifices they made so their family could have a better life. Hiran wrote this story to honor that legacy.
This story starts in 1959. Fidel Castro emerges as the new leader and president over Cuba. Fidel came with promises of revolution and an end to corruption. Life for Cubans changed in extremely dramatic ways under the Marxist-Communist party regime. Freedoms wiped away. The shortages began. Rationed supplies and food. Long lines. Religious freedom curtailed. Fidel became “the Father” of the nation.
Fast forward to 1962, a young family of three saw an opportunity to leave the island of Cuba. My father Emilio, my mother Carmen and my older brother Antonio (Tony). He was 1 year old at the time. With one family member safely in the United States, Emilio petitioned to leave Cuba and would be “sponsored” by his aunt and uncle who lived in Pennsylvania. That petition granting the leave would be in the works for seven long years. During the period of time that one petitions to have exit from Cuba, it is so important that it is kept very quiet. It is not broadcast among neighbors, employers or friends. You would be seen as a traitor to the Revolution. It is not uncommon to have your house vandalized, windows broken, family threatened or to be ostracized if word gets out that you are trying to leave.
Emilio worked for the local hospital as a switchboard operator and file clerk. Against better judgment, he did advise the hospital that he had plans to leave and move to the United States, clearly not knowing when he would be granted permission to leave. As a result, he was removed from that job, a.k.a. “fired”, and was sent to work the fields in the state-owned agricultural farms. As the world knows, Cuba’s main farm crops are sugar and tobacco. Emilio went from having what could be deemed as a “cushy” 9 to 5 job to working 6 days a week in the hot sun as a form of punishment for his decision to defect from the island. The family lived in Havana and the farm was miles away in another province of Cuba. He would go months without seeing his wife and young son.
As the story goes, Carmen made a trip out to the farm on one occasion to bring Emilio a care package, some soaps, some coffee and other small toiletries. She happened upon the kitchen and met the head chef for all of the workers. She noticed that he was smoking a cigar. She asked him if he enjoyed cigars regularly and he said yes and so she came up with a plan. She told him that if she was able to get him some good quality cigars, could he see to it that Emilio was transferred to kitchen duty instead of working in the fields. It was brutal work. The plan worked. Within a week, Emilio was working in the kitchen, helping out the chef, and making meals for all of the workers. He would not find out until later that Carmen had in essence bribed the head chef with cigars to secure an easier job for him on the farm. He would work there for several years on that farm, castigated for wanting to leave Cuba.
Seven long years. And then it happened. September 1969. The final approval was given and Emilio, Carmen and Tony would be able to leave and fly to America. That day would come on September 15, 1969. The day before, members of local government are made aware that you are leaving the country and a “seal” is placed on your house and the front door is padlocked and taped shut. The seal is to announce that the house and its contents are now property of the government and that no one is to enter. Before the seal was placed on the house and the doors locked, my Mother was able to salvage and remove some items to leave with family members. What Carmen had been doing over time was slowly and ever so discreetly removing articles of clothing that she planned to pack with them for the trip. This was done in a manner that would not arouse suspicion to anyone. No one should be tipped off that there are items being removed from the house or it would incite questions and curiosity. The rest of the contents would now become property of the Communist party of Cuba. An inventory is taken of each item in the home to account for it.
And just like that, my family virtually disappeared the next day and were gone. The only indication that they had left was the government seal on the front of the house and the padlock. No goodbyes to neighbors, hugs or wishes for a better future. Carmen remembers feeling very torn and the departure would be very bittersweet for her. Her mother Cecilia was ill and recovering from a heart attack she recently had. But the decision had been made to leave and they were going to proceed forward. Eventually, Cecilia would die in 1971, and Carmen was not able to be by her side when she passed, nor attend her funeral. That heart break is something that is still very painful for Carmen to this day.
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Next week. Hard Work and Sacrifice
This is one part of a multi-part story. To view past installments and other stories, please visit our blog, Learn-Engage-Empower at im4u.world.
This story is among many that inspired us to create im4u.world, an ambitious project to build positive and constructive conversations around the world, share learning experiences to create real change at the local level. It is easy to join us. Simply start by filling out our Global Survey, a short 15 question survey asking you what the most important issues are facing humanity. Your voice matters and we are listening.
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