Music historian and writer Eloy Cepero, Eloisa Echazabal from Miami Dade College, and Marcos Kerbel, president of Temple Beth Shmuel-
Cuban Hebrew Congregation of Miami Beach, will discuss their Pedro Pan Experiences from different spiritual perspectives (Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish).
Dr. Heidi Heft, associate professor of Social Work at Barry University, will moderate The discussion.
The film “Operation Pedro Pan: The Cuban Children’s Exodus” (2017) chronicles the clandestine exodus of more than 14,000 Cuban children and the participation of Msgr. Bryan O. Walsh, former director of the Catholic Welfare Bureau in Miami, and Catholic Charities in 200 cities across the United States.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with Carmen Valdivia, president of the Operation Pedro Pan Group’s Historic Committee.
Author and history professor Víctor Andrés Triay will discuss the origins and development of Operation Pedro Pan/Cuban Children’s Program. Triay is the author of “Fleeing Castro: Operation Pedro Pan and the Cuban Children’s Program” and a professor of history at Middlesex Community College in Middletown, Connecticut.
This event is sponsored in part by the Cuban Research Institute and presented by its director, Jorge Duany.