Casablanca of the Caribbean: Cuban Refugees, Local Power, and Cold War Policy in Miami, 1959-1995

Mauricio Fernando Castro, Purdue University

Abstract

This dissertation chronicles the history of the city of Miami, Florida in the aftermath of the Cuban Revolution. A heavy influx of Cuban exiles following the rise to power of Fidel Castro fundamentally changed the economic, social, and political landscape of the city. This work examines the relationship between the Cuban exile community, the United States government, and local government, civic, and social groups in the city. The federal government extended a welcome to the Cuban exiles that was motivated by Cold War concerns, identifying them as potential assets in the fight against Marxism in Latin America. While the benefits provided to the Cuban refugees were meant to be transitory, as their stay in the United States was expected to be, the federal government provided the exiles with access to structures of privilege that were parallel to those associated with middle class whiteness in the postwar period. This transfer of funds and the ideological moorings that drove it ties Miami more directly to the Sunbelt pattern of economic and social development than has been previously acknowledged. This work argues that the presence of the large Cuban community in Miami does not make the city an outlier to the larger American urban experience, but instead makes it central to that experience. The city of Miami in the decades after the Cuban Revolution is also central to expanding our understanding of race relations in the United States. The interactions between the Cuban community, the non-Hispanic white community, and the African American community in Miami complicate our understanding of race relations in this time period. Finally, this dissertation tracks the growth in power, wealth, and influence of the Cuban community in the United States and illustrates the permeability of the divides between local, national, and transnational. The history of Miami shows how local events can be influenced by and, in turn, influence transnational trends and international events.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Teaford, Purdue University.

Subject Area

History|International Relations|Urban planning

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