Dr. Bernardo Benes Baikowitz (27 December 1934 in
Matanzas
Matanzas (Cuban ; ) is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas Province, Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-American religions, Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Mat ...
,
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
– 14 January 2019 in
Miami, Florida
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
) was a prominent
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
Cuban lawyer, banker, journalist and civic leader, who was responsible for freeing 3,600 Cuban political prisoners in 1978.
Early life
Bernardo Benes Baikowitz was born on December 27, 1934, in
Mantanzas, Cuba, to Boris Benes and Dora Baikowitz. Boris Benes was a Russian immigrant to
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
, leaving the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
in 1923, with a friend of his father's. Bernardo Benes’ family was
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, and most left behind were exterminated in
Nazi Concentration Camps
From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe.
The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...
.
His father had arrived with only $20 worth of money, yet managed to start his own clothing store in the streets of Cuba and Spain. Later, Bernardo Benes and his family would move to
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.[Yiddish
Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...](_bl ...<br></span></div>, the capital of Cuba. As he was Jewish, Benes had to study Hebrew Culture and <div class=)
, and joined the
Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair (, , 'The Young Guard') is a Labor Zionism, Labor Zionist, secular Jewish youth movement founded in 1913 in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary. It was also the name of the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party, the ...
, which influenced his sense of morality and human rights.
His ideology would develop mostly during his childhood, with a lot of influence from Boris Benes who not only to Benes was a model as a hard worker but as a man of humility and honesty.
Bernardo Benes would, as a college student, at first joined the
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...
, but left because he found the facilities unsatisfactory. He would later join the law school in the
University of Havana
The University of Havana (UH; ) is a public university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of Cuba. Founded on 5 January 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas. Originall ...
. From there, through friends like
José Antonio Echeverría "Manzanita", he would be exposed to student demonstrations against the
Batista regime in the 1950s. With influences like Osmel Francis da los Reyes and René Anillo, Bernardo Benes would participate in activities of the revolution, joining activities of the Revolutionary Student Directorate. Dr. Benes graduated as an attorney and CPA from the University of Havana, and later became a member of the law firm “Bufete Zaydin”. Bernardo Benes would also later become the Consultant Lawyer of the Ministry of Finance after
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...
's revolution succeeded.
But the executions of the Batista officials and the imprisonment of Castro's past supporters or those against the revolution led Benes to flee Castro's regime. His father's company was expropriated by the Castro government. Instead of a democracy, there was now a communist dictatorship. Bernardo Benes and his family fled to
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
in 1960, to start a new life in a place that would become the epicenter of
Latin America
Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
.
Early years in exile
In Miami, Bernardo Benes would start with a check of $210, becoming a janitor for a bank. But he would quickly rise until he owned his own bank in 1974, while also becoming a major figure in the
Cuban exile community. This was partly due to all the charitable activities he participated in, mostly for helping Cuban Americans with housing and finance or giving advice on finance and politics. He would become a very prominent figure in the Miami Community, with 29 organizations listed on his résumé. One of his first roles in the community was starting a snack booth at the airport when
Pedro Pan flights started, greeting newly arrived Cuban exiles. Along with that, he co-founded the
Cuban Hebrew Congregation on
Miami Beach
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...
in 1961, the
United Way International in his community(Vice-President for the Miami-Dade County from 1965-1977). From 1962–1974, he was Vice-President of the Washington Federal Savings and Loan Association, housing consultant to
USAID
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian United States foreign aid, foreign aid and development assistance.
Established in 19 ...
,
IDB (Interamerican Development Bank), and the United Nations.
He was leaning towards exile militancy at the start of his Miami career, having funded anti-Castro missions like the one in which
Tony Cuesta was captured. But he became a more compromise based idealist when his radio plan of broadcasting to Cuba was rejected by the U.S. government. He looked at this event as telling him that he could accomplish nothing if he kept this type of more aggressive path, which relied too much on support from the government, when the Cuban exiles should take it into their own hands.
Bernardo Benes during this time would be influenced by a friend who wanted to, through Benes, publish an article about the inhumane treatment of
political prisoner
A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.
There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...
s in Cuba. This would be Bernardo Benes’ turning point, and human rights (freeing the political prisoners and reuniting exiled families) would become his goal. Because of his religion, Bernardo Benes would also comment that this was his duty as a Jewish man to work for human rights. During this time, it was also
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
's presidential election, and Benes would avidly support Carter, giving him a closer connection to the U.S. government.
All of these aspects would help Bernardo Benes in starting and continuing his negotiations with Fidel Castro.
Involvement in dialogues
Bernardo Benes’ negotiations began on August 22, 1977. Benes was on vacation with his family in
Panama
Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
after being invited by the future Vice President
Ricardo de la Espriella, his old friend. He was eating breakfast when one of his old friends, Alberto Pons, told him some Cubans wanted to meet Bernardo Benes. They turned out to be top officials of Castro's inner circle, who wanted to use Benes as a bridge to reach diplomatic relations. Two of them were José Luis Padrón and Antonio de la Guardia. After this meeting, Bernardo Benes would contact Larry Sternfield, a CIA agent who he was well acquainted with, who told him who the men were, while telling Benes to continue to meet with them. Bernardo Benes would bring with him Charles Dascal, one of the first people he told about the Panama meeting.
After a meeting between the Cuban officials and Benes in February 1978, Bernardo Benes would hand a memorandum to
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzeziński (, ; March 28, 1928 – May 26, 2017), known as Zbig, was a Polish-American diplomat and political scientist. He served as a counselor to Lyndon B. Johnson from 1966 to 1968 and was Jimmy Carter's National Securi ...
, the
National Security Advisor for Carter. Brzezinski and Benes would have a rocky start, and Brzezinski would find Benes unfit for the role, sending two of his own men to continue conversations. But Benes would talk to
Cyrus Vance
Cyrus Roberts Vance (March 27, 1917January 12, 2002) was an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the 57th United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1980. Prior to serving in that position, he was the United ...
(
Secretary of State) and
Peter Tarnoff, with the FBI instead of the CIA now instructing Benes.
The negotiations between the Cuban officials and Bernardo Benes happened in Panama,
Nassau,
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
,
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
,
Washington D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, and
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
, totaling up to around 75 meetings. In these conversations, Bernardo Benes and Charles Dascal negotiated for the freedom of the political prisoners, family reunification, and more peaceful relations between the United States and Cuba.
Bernardo Benes also had around 14 personal meetings with Fidel Castro, more than 150 hours total, continuing with discussions about human rights. In these meetings, many differences in American and Cuban Culture during the
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
can be seen. For example, during one of the meetings, Bernardo Benes noticed Castro had Florsheim boots worth more than a hundred dollars. When asking Castro why he wore these low-quality boots, Castro was surprised and replied he thought they were one of the best. Bernardo Benes would later buy Johnston and Murphy boots for $350, which Castro gladly accepted. Many more moments like this would occur, where the development of the United States and the Miami community abroad would surprise Castro.
On October 20, 1978, Benes and five other Cuban exiles would arrive in Cuba to bring 46 prisoners back to Miami. In the time that they spent there, the press got to interview the prisoners at the Combinado del Este prison, meeting with
Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo, one of the more famous prisoners. They would during this time have a meeting with Fidel Castro. One of the released would be Tony Cuesta.
Bernardo Benes after the one in October had two more “dialogues”, bringing more exiles to meet Castro, and bringing even more prisoners back in November and December. Castro promised to release 3,600 prisoners and issue permits so families could visit the family members they were separated from. Carter would also remove human rights as one of the reasons stopping the U.S. from restoring
diplomatic relations
Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of state, intergovernmental, or non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern Diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...
with Cuba.
After negotiations
But there were multiple complications that came with Bernardo Benes' negotiations. For one, prisoners were being released at a slower rate than agreed on because the U.S. failed to give enough permits, which was caused by the
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
not willing to grant visas unless all prisoners were interviewed. During the
Reagan years, this process will halt until another deal between Reagan and Castro was reached. Along with that in the Reagan years, visits to Cuba would also be minimalized, though later restored.
Another thing that damaged the result of the negotiations is the
Mariel Boatlift
The Mariel boatlift () was a mass emigration of Cubans who traveled from Cuba's Mariel Harbor to the United States between April 15 and October 31, 1980. The term "" is used to refer to these refugees in both Spanish and English. While the ex ...
. The Mariel Boatlift brought 125,000 Cuban refugees including released criminals and mental patients. This would damage Carter's image and be one of the reasons he lost the election. The crime in Miami where most of the refugees came to would increase, while the people couldn't be absorbed into the labor market. This would greatly damage the image of the Cubans exiles. But as the years passed, the refugees were accepted and integrated.
But Bernardo Benes was ostracized rather than put in the spotlight as a hero. Militant exile groups like
Alpha 66 viewed Benes as a traitor to them, having talked to Castro. Two of the people who participated in the dialogue were assassinated, while Benes had to wear a bulletproof vest the first year after his negotiations. Benes would constantly be under fire by the media, with radios and newspaper writing against him. Many old friends of his would avoid him or treat him rudely. Often, when he walked into a restaurant, one of the customers would try to spit at or insult him. He survived possibly two assassination attempts, and a bomb exploding at the bank he worked at.
Death
Bernardo Benes died on January 14, 2019, after suffering for around three years from a disease. He had a private funeral, remaining mostly unknown to the public. He was still never accepted into the community and had trouble finding work for the rest of his life. But his work lives on as Obama restored diplomatic relations during his terms in office, though the
embargo
Economic sanctions or embargoes are commercial and financial penalties applied by states or institutions against states, groups, or individuals. Economic sanctions are a form of coercion that attempts to get an actor to change its behavior throu ...
on Cuba still remains. Fidel Castro and most of his supporters have too also died.
Awards, honors, positions and documents
He was given an Honorary Doctoral Degree in Human Relations in 1968 from
Biscayne College (now St. Thomas University). In 1969, the Republic of
Panama
Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
awarded him the
Order of Vasco Nunez de Balboa for his humanitarian contributions and in 1979, the order of the Vatican Condecoration for Human Rights. He is an adjunct professor at the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...
. His papers from 1956-1987 are held by the Cuban Heritage Collection of the University of Miami Libraries. One of these documents is an unpublished memoir called “Mis Conversaciones Secretas con Fidel Castro”. A book from 2001, ''Secret Missions to Cuba''
'','' is a biography of Bernardo Benes and events related to him.
*
Order of Vasco Nunez de Balboa 1969
*
Order of the Vatican Condecoration for Human Right 1979
* Honorary Doctoral Degree in Human Relations,
Biscayne College 1968
External links
* Julio Estorino
Interview with Bernardo Benes, 2009 Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami Libraries
References
* Hearings; United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary, 1967
* De la Torre, Miguel A.; La Lucha for Cuba: religion and politics on the streets of Miami; University of California Press, 2003; .
* Levine, Robert M.; Secret Missions to Cuba: Fidel Castro, Bernardo Benes, and Cuban Miami; Palgrave Macmillan, 2002;
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benes, Bernardo
1934 births
2019 deaths
20th-century Cuban lawyers
Cuban anti-communists
Cuban journalists
Cuban male journalists
Cuban Jews
Cuban emigrants to the United States
Opposition to Fidel Castro
Exiles of the Cuban Revolution in the United States
Jewish anti-communists
People from Matanzas
People from Miami
University of Havana alumni