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Producer
Sebastian Garcia
Description
In Part 3 of “Operación Pedro Pan: The Voices and Stories of Cuba’s Child Exodus—A Knights HistoryCast Mini-Series,” the Department of History’s Sebastian Garcia talked with former U.S. Senator Mel Martinez, who served in the U.S. Senate from 2005-2009. Mel Martinez was the first Cuban-American to serve in a presidential cabinet (President George W. Bush, from 2001-2003) and the first-ever Cuban-American to serve in the United States Senate. Before his career in Washington D.C., Mel Martinez was the Mayor of Orange County (Orlando, Florida) from 1998-2001. As if the résumé was not already astounding, Mel Martinez arrived in the United States at the age of 15 via Operación Pedro Pan.
Like other Pedro Pans, Senator Mel Martinez is a testament to the success and power of Operación Pedro Pan (and of immigration more broadly). One of the most prestigious and acclaimed guests this podcast has ever seen, he walks us through his life, his story, and how this historic event forever shaped him.
Narrator
Sebastian Garcia
Interviewer
Sebastian Garcia
Interviewee
Senator Mel Martinez
Date Created
6-1-2023
Keywords
History, UCF, University of Central Florida, history podcast, UCF history podcast, Knights Historycast, podcasting, Cuba, Operation Peter Pan, Operación Pedro Pan, Pedro Pan, Cuban history, Cubans, Cuban-American, Cuban-American history, US-Cuban history, US-Cuba relations, child exodus, Cuba’s child exodus, The Cuban Diaspora, 20th century history, cultural history, Cuban culture, historical legacies, legacy, Pedro Pan legacy, Latin American history, Immigration, Immigration history, minors, refugees, exiles, political exiles, displaced persons, 90 miles, Freedom Flights, Mariel Boatlift, Special Period, Cuban emigration, Cuban immigration, waves, Cuban exodus, Fidel Castro, Castro regime, Castro Revolution, The Cuban Revolution, Castro dictatorship, communism, Catholicism, Catholics, foster families, Western Hemisphere, family history, personal history, oral history, the American Dream, education, immigration crisis, American politics, US Politics, George W. Bush, President Bush, 21st century American Politics, 2001, 2005-2009, Senator, Senate, Miami, American ideals, American culture, law, lawyer, mayor, Orange County, Hispanics
Subjects
History, UCF, University of Central Florida, history podcast, UCF history podcast, Knights Historycast, podcasting, Cuba, Operation Peter Pan, Operación Pedro Pan, Pedro Pan, Cuban history, Cubans, Cuban-American, Cuban-American history, US-Cuban history, US-Cuba relations, child exodus, Cuba’s child exodus, The Cuban Diaspora, 20th century history, cultural history, Cuban culture, historical legacies, legacy, Pedro Pan legacy, Latin American history, Immigration, Immigration history, minors, refugees, exiles, political exiles, displaced persons, 90 miles, Freedom Flights, Mariel Boatlift, Special Period, Cuban emigration, Cuban immigration, waves, Cuban exodus, Fidel Castro, Castro regime, Castro Revolution, The Cuban Revolution, Castro dictatorship, communism, Catholicism, Catholics, foster families, Western Hemisphere, family history, personal history, oral history, the American Dream, education, immigration crisis, American politics, US Politics, George W. Bush, President Bush, 21st century American Politics, 2001, 2005-2009, Senator, Senate, Miami, American ideals, American culture, law, lawyer, mayor, Orange County, Hispanics
Length of Episode
47:22
Recommended Citation
“Episode 37: Senator Mel Martinez - An Operación Pedro Pan Survivor,” Knights Historycast Podcast, 2023, [https://stars.library.ucf.edu/knightshistorycast/37]