MIAMI — The roughly 200 surviving veterans of the Bay of Pigs Invasion are marking the 65th anniversary of the failed 1961 assault on Communist Cuba with the grand reopening of the Brigade 2506 Museum and Library, a new two-story, 11,000-square-foot facility in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, NBC Miami reported.
The museum replaces the original building that opened in 1988 at the same site and was constructed with funding from Miami-Dade County, the state of Florida and private donors. It houses photographs, documents and memorabilia from the three-day invasion in which about 1,500 CIA-backed Cuban exiles stormed the island’s southern coast. More than 100 of the fighters drowned or were killed in action, and another 1,200 were taken prisoner after running out of ammunition, spending about 20 months in captivity before their release was negotiated.
“The museum’s 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,” said Manuel Portuondo, a Cuban exile who fled the island with his family in 1960 and enlisted in the brigade as a teenager while still attending school in Miami.
“As 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,” Portuondo said. “I enrolled in the invasion and shipped to Guatemala for training.”
Rafael Montalvo, president of the Brigade 2506 Veterans Association, said the museum will also educate visitors about the consequences of Communist dictatorship — consequences that have shaped South Florida’s identity for more than six decades. “The 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,” Montalvo said.
The brigade broke with a half-century tradition of not endorsing individual candidates by officially supporting President Donald Trump’s first campaign and reaffirming that endorsement four years later. Montalvo said the group trusts Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Miami-born Cuban American, to guide Trump on Cuba policy. Ongoing talks between the U.S. and Cuba are in their early stages, according to Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, while a punishing U.S. blockade has led to increased blackouts, with just a single fuel delivery in the past three months.
Still, not all brigade members agree on the path forward. Carlos Leon, a Brigade 2506 member, questioned the effectiveness of military force. “How many Cubans are you going to kill? How many more enemies in Cuba are you going to create by killing all those Cubans?” Leon said. “How do you feel because the gringos send the Marines and the Air Force and kill or mutilate X number of Cubans? What kind of a country, what kind of morale do you have as a Cuban?”
Montalvo said he does not want American troops on the island. “I don’t want to see American boots on the ground in Cuba,” he said. “I would hate to see an American soldier die because of Cuba’s freedom. I mean, we have to die ourselves before that happens.” He added a blunt warning about half-measures: “We ask them that if they’re not going to get rid of the mafia that is in power right now, don’t do anything. Because to make change in Cuba that is just for the photographs, like they did in Venezuela, in Cuba it’s not going to work.”
Ernesto Freyre, another brigade veteran, called joining the force the most important action of his life. “It was the biggest purpose and commitment that I took upon myself,” Freyre said. After nearly seven decades under Communist rule since Fidel Castro took power following dictator Fulgencio Batista’s flight from the island on Jan. 1, 1959, Freyre is uncertain whether he will see a free Cuba in his lifetime. “But at least I’m hoping that my descendants do see it,” he said.
The youngest surviving veterans are now in their 80s. The new building officially opens Friday with a ceremony for brigade members and their families before reopening to the public.