Bay of Pigs history course has personal meaning for students whose family members participated in the invasion

Students in the Honors College are gaining a personal and historical understanding of the 1961 operation to liberate communist Cuba through a new course titled “The Secret War: Brigade 2506 and the Global Consequences of the Bay of Pigs Invasion.”

The course explores the untold stories of Brigade 2506, a group of Cuban exiles who mounted a U.S.-backed incursion to overthrow dictator Fidel Castro and restore democracy to the island. Spearheaded by the CIA, it failed within days, and 118 members of the brigade died.

Students examine the broader context to uncover the political forces that shaped one of the most defining moments in Latin American-U.S. foreign policy history as the unsuccessful attack revealed significant flaws in American intelligence and planning and prompted a shift toward more covert and interventionist tactics in the region.

The course is led by Yuleisy Mena, a three-time FIU alumna and executive director of the Bay of Pigs Museum and Library near downtown Miami. Born in Havana, and raised in South Florida, she holds a bachelor’s in history and an MA and Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction in social studies from FIU. She has taught in Miami-Dade County Public Schools as well as in FIU’s School of Education.

Mena’s connection to the history she teaches is both professional and personal. At the Bay of Pigs Museum and Library, a nonprofit supported by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, she works to preserve the legacy of the Brigade 2506 heroes by presenting memorabilia, historical artifacts and information about those who paid the ultimate prices in the pursuit of freedom for their homeland. “My goal is to ensure that their stories don’t fade into history books but remain alive through education and remembrance,” she says.

Mena proudly champions bipartisan support for the museum as it keeps alive history that directly touches many in the local community. “The Brigade represents a lot symbolically in the Miami Cuban community,” she says. “There are currently 42 streets named after members of the brigade.”

The idea for the course originated from Mena’s initial plan to host a workshop on the invasion and the Brigade. When she presented the idea to FIU Honors College Dean Juan Carlos Espinosa, they quickly realized the potential for something more impactful.

The course has students creating individual podcasts for their final project by using modern storytelling to delve into the events and legacy of the Bay of Pigs invasion.

Student Gabriella Ullivarri’s grandfather, Flavio Marquez Ullivarri, served in the 3rd battalion of Brigade 2506. “My grandma would tell us how he changed a lot after coming back from the invasion because of PTSD. So, he was already a closed-off person, and then he became even more closed off. He didn’t really like talking about it.”

Ullivarri says the course helped her better understand the emotional and historical weight of what her grandfather, now deceased, experienced. “Coming into the course, I already knew some of the content, so I felt like I had a pretty solid foundation,” she said. “But I definitely learned a lot of things I didn’t know before, such as the army facilitation of things that I ended up sharing with my parents. There were aspects of how the invasion was set up and carried out that were completely new to us.”

Sophomore Joshua Gutierrez also has personal ties to the conflict. His grand uncle, or tío abuelo, Reubin De Quesada, served as leader of communications during the invasion. In the course, Gutierrez learned new, detailed information about the experience of those who fought in the brigade that he had never heard before from his own family. He learned about the military training the exiles underwent, the type of equipment they used and the daily diet and routines they followed. The classroom instruction “was a really good experience,” he says. 

On April 17, Gutierrez and his classmates will attend the annual Bay of Pigs Roll Call commemoration ceremony in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood to mark the 64th anniversary of the event. He will be accompanied by his grandfather, and the two will pay tribute to Gutierrez’s grand uncle, who has passed away.

“I didn't know too much about it when I was growing up, and my grandfather just started telling me stories and I started learning more during the course,” Gutierrez says. “It’s a great honor, you know, that my family was involved in that. They fought for what they believed in.”