Operation Pedro Pan (1960 to 1962)

The quiet airlift of thousands of unaccompanied Cuban children to Miami.

Sending the children

After the Cuban revolution, many parents feared that the new government would take control of their children's education. Between late 1960 and October 1962, a program organized largely by the Catholic Welfare Bureau in Miami, with U.S. government cooperation on visa waivers, brought about 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban children to the United States.

Waiting for parents

Many children were met by relatives. Others lived in camps, group homes, and foster families across the country. Flights stopped after the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, and some children waited years to see their parents again.

Pedro Pan ambassadors

At least two Pedro Pan children became U.S. ambassadors: Hugo Llorens, who arrived at age seven, and Eduardo Aguirre, who arrived at fifteen.