FIU to observe the 50th anniversary of Pedro Pan exodus Oct. 18


The Alumni Association will sponsor a panel discussion and historical-photo presentation to be held in the MARC building at MMC.

On Monday, Oct. 18, Modesto A. Maidique Campus will be among the locations that will host events as part of the upcoming 50th anniversary celebration of the Pedro Pan program.

Events also will be held at each of Miami-Dade College’s eight campuses, UM and Barry University. FIU’s Alumni Association-sponsored presentation is scheduled for 11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. in the MARC International Pavilion.

Teresa Ponte, chair of the FIU Department of Journalism and Broadcasting; Fernando Figueredo, chair of the Public Relations and Advertising Department; Lari Martinez, FIU’s diplomat in residence; and alumnae Eloisa Echazabal ’79 and Carmen Romañach ’05, MA ’07 will participate in FIU’s panel.

“I am participating in this celebration because I believe it is important to inform our next generation of what the Pedro Pan exodus is,” Echazabal said. “Very little has been written in history textbooks and journals about this significant and important chapter in the history of Cuba and the United States and it would be sad if the knowledge of this major event is lost for our future generations.”

A special presentation will illustrate and contextualize the 1960-’62 exodus of more than 14,000 Cuban children sent stateside by their parents to avoid communist indoctrination. This is the only documented exodus of unaccompanied children in the Western Hemisphere.

Echazabal was one of those children.

“By participating in this educational event, I also want to pay tribute and thank my parents for having had the courage to make that tough decision,” she said. “Who knows where my sister and I would be today if they had not made that decision back in those days.”

Click here to read more about her story.

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