Learning to Die in Miami by Carlos Eire

Author:Carlos Eire
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2010-03-13T16:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

We’re out in the Everglades, somewhere, and it’s broiling hot. I’ve felt fired-up kilns and ovens cooler than this. And we’re watching a bunch of men in camouflage gear prepare for the next invasion of Cuba.

These guys are serious. And those are real bullets they’re firing. I miss the sound of gunfire so much. My nightly lullaby back in Havana. It’s great to hear it again.

All day long they drill, and sit for lessons on tactics and hand-to-hand combat, and crawl through ditches and under barbed wire while someone fires live ammo over their heads. The guys in charge all behave like professional soldiers, or at least give the impression that they know what they’re doing. Those doing the drilling and crawling are giving it their all.

Tony and I just watch. We want to take part, but are told we’re way too young. It’s thrilling, all right, but also extremely frustrating. I want to feel bullets flying over my head. And I wouldn’t mind landing in Cuba with these guys a few months from now, or next year, or the year after that. Sometime. Anytime.

I’d like to do my share, even though deep inside I know it’ll be a futile gesture.

At the end of the day, the top man in charge gives a rousing speech in which he thanks the men for their dedication and courage and assures them that their efforts will not go to waste this time. No mention is made of the Bay of Pigs. Bringing up that subject is as unnecessary as pointing out where the sun is, or how much we’re all sweating.

We’re all here because that invasion failed. And it failed because President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert and their advisors decided to dump the exile invasion force in the worst possible spot—a swamp—and then to abandon them totally, after having promised military support. These men here in the Everglades have taken it upon themselves to try again, with no help from anyone. What they’re doing out here in the bush is illegal, but they don’t care. So what if John Kennedy promised Nikita Khrushchev that he’d keep the Cuban exiles on a short leash? Who cares? It’s our island to reclaim, not his, or Nikita’s. And Cubans have been invading their island from bases in Florida for a century and a half. It’s such an essential part of Cuban history, an inescapable recurring pattern: A repressive regime on the island drives out those who dare to challenge the status quo; they go to the United States, gather funds, buy weapons, invade the island, and try to topple the oppressors; time and time again. Our greatest national hero, José Martí, spent a lot of time in exile in the United States in the late nineteenth century, mostly in New York, and also in Tampa. He landed with an invading force and was shot dead by the Spanish in a skirmish. Our first president, Tomás Estrada Palma, spent years fighting for independence from

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