As part of the Resilient Humanitarianism project, CI Professor Susanne Schech is working on case studies related to humanitarian cooperation between Red Cross societies during the Cold War.
On 30 April 2021 she presented a paper to the Flinders University History Seminar Series on ‘Humanitarianism in the Cold War: The American and Cuban Red Cross Societies in the Bay of Pigs Prisoner Exchange’.
Susanne’s paper focused on the repatriation of more than a thousand men captured by the Cuban army in the failed CIA-instigated attempt in 1961 to invade Cuba and reverse the 1959 Revolution. The ‘Bay of Pigs’ invasion made history as the United States’ most disastrous military interventions, one that revealed to the world the limits of American power, competence and morality.
After the humiliating defeat, the US administration under John F Kennedy continued to fund covert military action, sabotage and assassination attempts against the Cuban state, and increased diplomatic and economic sanctions. The US – Cuban conflict brought the world to the brink of nuclear war in the October 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Yet, on Christmas Eve that same year, the 1113 Bay of Pigs prisoners were released and returned to the US to a large reception attended by the presidential couple.
As part of a deal struck between the Cuban Government and the Cuban Families Committee, which had been advocating for the release of their imprisoned family members, the release was in exchange for an indemnity of American medical and food supplies to the value of US$53 million. These supplies were donated by American manufacturers and delivered to Cuba over a period of six months by the American Red Cross.
The paper examines American Red Cross archival material on the ‘Cuban Prisoner Exchange’ to understand how the exchange was carried out. It argues that the ARC’s willingness to participate in the project was critical to the success of the project as it brought logistical and relational capabilities required for the complex humanitarian operation. In the absence of diplomatic relations between the US and Cuban governments, the Red Cross societies of the two countries were able to establish a collaborative relationship based on professionalism, hospitality, attention to detail, and a shared willingness to work through obstacles and changing circumstances.
Ultimately, despite the successful conclusion of this significant and unusual operation, the continued hostility between the two countries denied it the international recognition it deserved.
American Red Cross records relating to the Cuban Prisoner Exchange are held by the National Archives of America.
Susan Watson, archivist and Manager of Historical Programs and Collections for the American Red Cross, provided images of Cuban refugees who were assisted by local American Red Cross chapters after fleeing Cuba in 1961.
Other materials relating to the Bay of Pigs invasion can be located via the John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
See: Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. President’s Office Files. Countries. Cuba: Security, 1961. JFKPOF-115-003. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum