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<\/p>\nBy DAVID FISCHER<\/p>\n
MIAMI (AP) \u2014 Manuel Portuondo was still a teenager in 1960 when his family, like thousands of others, fled Cuba for Miami, following the culmination of the Cuban Revolution a year earlier.<\/p>\n
Soon after, while still attending school, Portuondo learned of a military force of Cuban refugees being organized by the United States government. He and several classmates decided to enlist.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs an 18-year-old with a lot of ideals and a big heart, I wanted to be back in my country and be free and be able to do what I wanted,\u201d Portuondo said. \u201cI enrolled in the invasion and shipped to Guatemala for training.\u201d<\/p>\n
Remembering the invasion<\/p>\n
About 1,500 Cuban exiles, with the backing of the CIA, attempted to invade the island nation at the Bay of Pigs on April 17, 1961, in an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro\u2019s fledgling Communist government. More than 100 of the U.S.-backed fighters either drowned or were killed in action. Another 1,200 of the fighters, known as Brigade 2506, were taken prisoner after running out of ammunition and spent about 20 months in captivity before their release was negotiated.<\/p>\n
Today, only about 200 of the veterans remain, the youngest of whom are in their 80s. They\u2019re hosting the grand reopening of the Bay of Pigs Brigade 2506 Museum and Library in Miami\u2019s Little Havana neighborhood this month to coincide with the 65th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs Invasion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe museum\u2019s purpose is not only to cement the legacy of what thousands of men did on that day, but also, from a historic perspective, to tell the new generations that freedom has a price,\u201d Portuondo said.<\/p>\n
Rafael Montalvo, president of the Brigade 2506 Veterans Association, said the museum will also educate visitors about the harm caused by decades of Communist dictatorship.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Bay of Pigs is a historical moment that defined the future of Cuba, of the United States, of Miami, and of many Latin American countries, because the failure of that intervention made communism stay in Cuba forever and change the country completely,\u201d Montalvo said.<\/p>\n
The Cuban Revolution started in 1953 as an armed revolt, led by Castro, against the U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista. Following an early failed attack, revolutionaries reorganized as a guerrilla force, and the movement gained support among Cuban citizens dissatisfied with inequality and corruption. Batista fled the island on Jan. 1, 1959, leaving Castro to take power, establish a socialist state, nationalized foreign assets and become allies with the former Soviet Union. Nearly a quarter million Cubans had fled to the U.S. by the time of the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962.<\/p>\n
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Rafael Montalvo, center, president of the Brigade 2506 Veterans Association, leads a moment of silence for those killed in the Bay of Pigs Invasion and their fellow veterans who have since died, at a meeting planning the opening of the new and expanded space that will house the Bay of Pigs Museum, in Miami\u2019s Little Havana neighborhood, Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo\/Rebecca Blackwell)\n<\/p>\n
![\"Rafael](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Cuban_Veterans_83955.jpg?w=620\")
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Rafael Montalvo, president of the Brigade 2506 Veterans Association, speaks with other Bay of Pigs Invasion veterans and relatives during a planning meeting for the reopening of the Bay of Pigs Museum in a new and larger space in Miami\u2019s Little Havana neighborhood, Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo\/Rebecca Blackwell)\n<\/p>\n
![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Cuban_Veterans_78225.jpg?w=620\")
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People are reflected in a framed Brigade 2506 flag, as preparation work continues for the reopening of the Bay of Pigs Museum in a new and expanded space in Miami\u2019s Little Havana neighborhood, Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo\/Rebecca Blackwell)\n<\/p>\n
![\"Bay](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Cuban_Veterans_78_42.jpg?w=620\")
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Bay of Pigs Invasion veterans Manuel Portuondo, right, and Ernesto Freyre participate in preparations for the reopening of the Bay of Pigs Museum in its new and larger space in Miami\u2019s Little Havana neighborhood, Friday, March 20, 2026. (AP Photo\/Rebecca Blackwell)\n<\/p>\n
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Rafael Montalvo, center, president of the Brigade 2506 Veterans Association, leads a moment of silence for those killed in the Bay of Pigs Invasion and their fellow veterans who have since died, at a meeting planning the opening of the new and expanded space that will house the Bay of Pigs Museum, in Miami\u2019s Little Havana neighborhood, Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo\/Rebecca Blackwell)\n<\/p>\n
Expand<\/a> Like most older Cuban Americans, most Brigade members have historically leaned conservative. But the group broke with a half-century tradition of not endorsing individual candidates by officially supporting U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a> \u2019s first campaign and then reaffirming that endorsement four years later.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to understand that Trump, in 2016, he came here and campaigned,\u201d Montalvo said. \u201cAnd we, for the first time ever, backed a president \u2014 politically backed him. And he made certain promises to us when he was here.\u201d<\/p>\n Those promises included adding new sanctions to Cuba and reversing former President Barack Obama\u2019s policies that loosened restrictions on travel and commerce. Now they\u2019re hoping that Trump can finally remove the current Cuban government for good, which will likely require action from the U.S. military.<\/p>\n Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have called for a change in Cuba\u2019s leadership<\/a>, with ongoing talks between the U.S. and Cuba in their early stages, according to Cuban President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel. A punishing U.S. blockade has led to increased blackouts, with just a single fuel delivery<\/a> in the past three months.<\/p>\n While Montalvo sees the need for the U.S. military, he doesn\u2019t want a U.S. invasion and occupation of Cuba. The ideal situation would be a revolt by Cuban citizens with backing from the U.S., followed by American investment and infrastructure to redevelop the island.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to see American boots on the ground in Cuba,\u201d Montalvo said. \u201cI would hate to see an American soldier die because of Cuba\u2019s freedom. I mean, we have to die ourselves before that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n Montalvo said his group trusts Rubio, a Miami-born Cuban American, to guide Trump. But whatever happens, Montalvo said the current government in Cuba needs to be removed completely.<\/p>\n \u201cWe ask them that if they\u2019re not going to get rid of the mafia that is in power right now, don\u2019t do anything,\u201d Montalvo said. \u201cBecause to make change in Cuba that is just for the photographs, like they did in Venezuela, in Cuba it\u2019s not going to work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nSupporting the president<\/p>\n