Various American fugitives in Cuba have found political asylum in Cuba after participating in militant activities in the Black power movement or the Independence movement in Puerto Rico. [1] Other fugitives in Cuba include defected CIA agents and others. [2] The Cuban government formed formal ties with the Black Panther Party in the 1960s, and many fugitive Black Panthers would find political asylum in Cuba, but after their activism was seen being repressed in Cuba many became disillusioned. [3] House Concurrent Resolution 254, passed in 1998, put the number at 90. [4] One estimate, c. 2000, put the number at approximately 100. [5]
Fidel Castro had long tried to court African American support for Cuba ever since the victory of the Cuban Revolution and the promotions of Cuba as an island without racism perfect for African American tourists. Robert F. Williams was invited to live in Cuba after legal prosecutions against him in the United States in 1961. While in Cuba he edited The Crusader newspaper and hosted radio shows at Radio Free Dixie. Over Williams' time in Cuba he began to become disillusioned with Cuba believing the island was controlled by a "white petit bourgeoisie", while Afro-Cubans were feeling the pinch of fast returning subtle racism", and also later suggested against black militants without criminal histories hijacking planes to come to Cuba. Williams was also discouraged from promoting Black nationalist beliefs by the Cuban government. [6]
Between 1967 and 1968 dozens of Black Panthers found refuge in Cuba. Eldridge Cleaver went to reside Cuba in 1968 and asked for Cuba to militarily train Black Panthers, the proposition was declined. [7] By 1969 various Black Panthers in Cuba complained of not being allowed to organize their party or discuss African culture, and arrests following protesting conditions in Cuba or asking to leave the country. [8]
Actually, no Black Panther Party members hijacked any planes in 1967 or 1968. It wasn't until William Lee Brent, A bay area Black Panther, who on June 17, 1969, hijacked Trans World Airlines Flight 154 to Cuba. Hijackings committed by Blacks in the US bound to Cuba between 1968 and May 1969 were exclusively escaped criminals or political activists but none of them were Black Panther Party members. It was only after William Lee Brent's hijacking that other Black Panthers would find political exile in Cuba. Most moved on to Algiers where Eldridge Cleaver, Minister of Information for the Black Panther Party, headed the International Section of the BPP. Many exiled Panthers and former hijackers now turned Panthers, made up Cleavers group.
"he's the only North American who made an adjustment to Cuban life" Stated D.R.Huey P. Newton of Panther, William Lee Grant (The CoEvolution Journal, Fall 1977).
Most hijackers who complained about their mistreatment while in Cuba were disillusioned with Cuba being a utopia for Revolutionaries. Most of them were also barely out of their teens and idealistic. Expecting a heroes welcome by the communist government. They were not prepared for the reality of socialism and culture shock.
Between 1968 and 1972 over 130 airplane hijackings occurred in the United States, all hijackers aiming to fly their planes to Cuba to find refuge. Many hijackers regarded themselves as revolutionaries but one noted hijacker was a Cuban exile who simply wanted to return home to eat his mother's food. Most hijackers were interviewed by Cuban authorities and either sent to live in the "Hijackers House" dormitory or work in labor camps. [9] Huey P. Newton found himself residing in Cuba in 1974 and mostly kept to himself in his home in Santa Clara. Assata Shakur would find refuge in Cuba later in 1984. [7] By the time Shakur resided in Cuba the Cuban government had relaxed procedures used on fugitives residing in Cuba and mainly left her to her own devices. [6]
Since the resumption of relations with the United States and the trades of imprisoned spies some have suspected fugitives in Cuba may be extradited to the United States but no extraditions have occurred. [2] [ disputed ]
The following people are fugitives who have or currently are finding refuge in Cuba, (in alphabetical order).
Assata Olugbala Shakur is an American political activist who was a member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA). In 1977, she was convicted in the first-degree murder of State Trooper Werner Foerster during a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike in 1973. She escaped from prison in 1979 and is currently wanted by the FBI, with a $1 million FBI reward for information leading to her capture, and an additional $1 million reward offered by the Attorney General of New Jersey.
Leroy Eldridge Cleaver was an American writer, political activist who became an early leader of the Black Panther Party.
Huey Percy Newton was an African American revolutionary and political activist. Newton was most notable for being the co-founder of the Black Panther Party where he operated the organization as the leader. Newton crafted the Party's ten-point manifesto with Bobby Seale in 1966.
Robert James Hutton, also known as "Lil' Bobby", was the treasurer and first recruit to join the Black Panther Party. Alongside Eldridge Cleaver and other Panthers, he was involved in a confrontation with Oakland police that wounded two officers. Hutton was killed by the police under disputed circumstances. Cleaver stated Hutton was shot while surrendering with his hands up, while police stated he ignored commands and tried to flee.
The Black Liberation Army (BLA) was an underground Marxist-Leninist, black-nationalist militant organization that operated in the United States from 1970 to 1981. Composed of former Black Panthers (BPP) and Republic of New Afrika (RNA) members who served above ground before going underground, the organization's program was one of war against the United States government, and its stated goal was to "take up arms for the liberation and self-determination of black people in the United States." The BLA carried out a series of bombings, killings of police officers and drug dealers, robberies, and prison breaks.
The black power movement or black liberation movement was a branch or counterculture within the civil rights movement of the United States, reacting against its more moderate, mainstream, or incremental tendencies and motivated by a desire for safety and self-sufficiency that was not available inside redlined African American neighborhoods. Black power activists founded black-owned bookstores, food cooperatives, farms, media, printing presses, schools, clinics and ambulance services. The international impact of the movement includes the Black Power Revolution in Trinidad and Tobago.
Jamal Joseph is an American writer, director, producer, poet, activist, and educator. Joseph was a member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army. He was prosecuted as one of the Panther 21. He spent six years incarcerated at Leavenworth Penitentiary.
David Hilliard is a former member of the Black Panther Party, having served as Chief of Staff. He became a visiting instructor at the University of New Mexico in 2006. He also is the founder of the Dr. Huey P. Newton foundation.
Kathleen Neal Cleaver is an American law professor and activist, known for her involvement with the Black Power movement and the Black Panther Party, a political and revolutionary.
William Lee Brent was an American member of the Black Panther Party and defector, best known for hijacking a passenger jet and diverting it to Cuba in 1969, where he spent the last 37 years of his life in exile.
The Black Panther Party was a Marxist–Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, California. The party was active in the United States between 1966 and 1982, with chapters in many major American cities, including San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Philadelphia. They were also active in many prisons and had international chapters in the United Kingdom and Algeria. Upon its inception, the party's core practice was its open carry patrols ("copwatching") designed to challenge the excessive force and misconduct of the Oakland Police Department. From 1969 onward, the party created social programs, including the Free Breakfast for Children Programs, education programs, and community health clinics. The Black Panther Party advocated for class struggle, claiming to represent the proletarian vanguard.
Revolutionary Suicide is an autobiography written by Huey P. Newton with assistance from J. Herman Blake originally published in 1973. Newton was a major figure in the American black liberation movement and in the wider 1960s counterculture. He was a co-founder and leader of what was then known as the Black Panther Party (BPP) for Self-Defence with Bobby Seale. The Chief ideologue and strategist of the BPP, Newton taught himself how to read during his last year of high school, which led to his enrollment in Merrit College in Oakland in 1966; the same year he formed the BPP. The Party urged members to challenge the status quo with armed patrols of the impoverished streets of Oakland, and to form coalitions with other oppressed groups. The party spread across America and internationally as well, forming coalitions with the Vietnamese, Chinese, and Cubans. This autobiography is an important work that combines political manifesto and political philosophy along with the life story of a young African American revolutionary. The book was not universally well received but has had a lasting influence on the black civil rights movement and resonates today in the Black Lives Matter movement.
Michael Aloysius Tabor was an American political activist and member of the Black Panther Party who was charged and tried as part of an alleged conspiracy to bomb public buildings in New York City and kill members of the New York Police Department.
Donald Lee Cox, known as Field Marshal DC, was an early member of the leadership of the African American revolutionary leftist organization the Black Panther Party, joining the group in 1967. Cox was titled the Field Marshal of the group during the years he actively participated in its leadership, due to his familiarity with and writing about guns.
Americans in Cuba consist of expatriates and immigrants from the United States as well as Cubans of American descent. As of September 1998, there are about 2,000 to 3,000 Americans living in Cuba.
Seize The Time: The Story of The Black Panther Party and Huey P. Newton is a 1970 book by political activist Bobby Seale. It was recorded in San Francisco County Jail between November 1969 and March 1970, by Arthur Goldberg, a reporter for the San Francisco Bay Guardian. An advocacy book on the cause and principles of the Black Panther Party, Seize The Time is considered a staple in Black Power literature.
Assata: An Autobiography is a 1988 autobiographical book by Assata Shakur. The book was written in Cuba where Shakur currently has political asylum.
Constance Evadine Matthews, better known as Connie Matthews, was an organizer, a part of the Black Panther Party between 1968 and 1971. A resident of Denmark, she helped co-ordinate the Black Panthers with left-wing political groups based in Europe.
Intercommunalism is an ideology which was adopted by the Oakland chapter of the Black Panther Party after its turn away from revolutionary nationalism in 1970. According to Huey P. Newton the development of intercommunalism was necessary "because nations have been transformed into communities of the world." Intercommunalists believe that most forms of nationalism are obsolescent, because international corporations and technologically advanced imperialist states have reduced most nations down to a series of discrete communities which exist to supply an imperial center, a situation called reactionary intercommunalism. They also believe this situation can be transformed into revolutionary intercommunalism and eventually communism if communities are able to link "liberated zones" together into a united front against imperialism. Intercommunalism is a lesser-known aspect of the Panthers' legacy as much of its development occurred at the height of the party's suppression and reorientation towards survival programs.