The collection documents the operation of the Cuban exile activist group, Brothers to the Rescue [Hermanos al Rescate], founded in Miami, Florida in 1991 by activist and aviator José Basulto. Materials include correspondence, administrative records, court documents and transcripts documenting the 1996 shoot-down of an Hermanos al Rescate plane, pamphlets and flyers distributed in Cuba by the group, audio visual materials, publications and photographs.
Documented in detail is the incident and subsequent investigation and trial related to the Hermanos al Rescate plane that was shot down in 1991 by the Cuban air force. During the incident, which took place on February 24, 1996, four pilots were killed.
The Diego Trinidad Papers contain correspondence, notes and photographs related to the Castro Revolutionary period in Sierra Maestra and El Escambray. The majority of the correspondence is between Diego Trinidad Valdés, Ernesto “Che” Guevara and Fidel Castro. Other correspondence relates to Cuban Revolutionary officers, including Otten Mesana, José Figueredo, Armando Quesada and Luis Orlando Rodríguez.
The papers document activities of J. M. Portuondo in capacity of a professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Havana, a writer and a faculty member of the University of Miami School of Medicine. The materials include books, pamphlets, periodicals, clippings, circular letters, typescripts of anti-communist writings by Portuondo, reports, a poem by Portuondo, speeches by him, copies of his medical diplomas, a historical map of Havana, and photostats of a photograph and of a letter from José Martí to José Portuondo.
The papers document activities of Dr. Jose G. Simón, who was a lawyer in Cuba and Associate Professor in Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. The materials include a booklet titled Elena Mederos: Símbolo de Patriotismo y Libertad discussing Mederos' feminist views and her fight for women's rights. The materials also consist of clippings, correspondence relating to Simón's work for the Old Dominion University, copies of articles about Fidel Castro, job referral office for Hispanics in Norfolk, Guantánamo; a book by Simón about Spanish language and photocopies of Hispania, a journal devoted to teaching of Spanish and Portuguese.
The Luis Zúñiga Records consist of copies of FBI documents of a human rights investigation regarding the involvement of Fidel Castro in the attack of "La Tablada" in Argentina.
The papers document professional activities of Norberto Fuentes, a writer and journalist born in Havana who was a close friend of Fidel Castro, and consequently had privileged knowledge of the Cuban secret service during some of the most difficult years of the Cuban Revolution. After spending many years alongside Castro, Fuentes tried to escape the island, was detained and eventually released. He now lives in the United States. Bulk of the materials in this collection display the knowledge Fuentes has about Castro, especially it is evident in the manuscript of The Autobiography of Fidel Castro. The materials also have wealth of information on drug, money laundering, and robberies perpetrated by Cuban agents or coordinated by Cuba.
The papers consist of floppy disks with family photographs, with material about condemned, material about narcotráfico and revolutionary forces. The papers also include cassettes, VHS tapes, CD-ROMs, a manuscript of a book "En la boca del diablo," manuscripts and typescripts of anti-Castro essays, correspondence, notes for "Dulces Guerreros Cubanos," a manuscript and research notes for "El ultimo tren blindado," typescript and research for "Narcotráfico y Tareas Revolucionarias," a manuscript of "La Autobiografía de Fidel Castro," clippings and print-outs of Roberto Fuentes' official web page.
The papers document activities of Orlando Bosch in capacity of President of Partido Protagonista del Pueblo (P.P.P.) and a writer, as well as activities of P.P.P. The materials include correspondence, documents, newspaper articles, two books published by Orlando Bosch, El grito del Escambray: su historia inedita, and 40 años de lucha y 40 años de razon with some annotations, two copies of a book by Adriana Bosch, "Orlando Bosch: el hombre que yo conozco," one print reproduction of a painting, one oleo of a "framboyan" and others of Martí and the Cuban flag.
The Tad Szulc Collection of Interview Transcripts includes the typescript transcripts of Tad Szulc's taped interviews with Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, and other government officials in Cuba and with Cuban exiles in Miami, Florida, from 1984 to 1985, in preparation for Szulc's book Fidel: A Critical Portrait (New York: Morrow, 1986).
The William Calhoun “Bill” Baggs Papers includes thirty-one boxes of correspondence, memoranda, clippings, photographs, diaries and other materials relating to the professional career of Baggs, a newspaper journalist, editor, and political commentator from the 1940s until his death in 1969. As a columnist and editor for the Miami Daily News, Baggs developed relationships with many prominent figures. The Baggs Papers, arranged in six series, totals thirteen cubic feet of materials. In addition to incoming correspondence, the files include hundreds of carbon copies of outgoing correspondence from Baggs to a variety of local, regional, state, national, and international politicians, journalists, and others.
