ABSTRACT
On a sultry spring morning in 1980, a dozen Cuban citizens crowded into a minibus and crashed it through the gates of the Peruvian Embassy in Havana in a desperate gamble to escape Fidel Castro’s iron grip. Although the would-be refugees, in their panic, ran over a guard during the episode, they obtained sanctuary nonetheless because Peruvian officials were sympathetic to their plight. 1 The officials were so understanding, in fact, that a few days later they opened the embassy doors to any other Cubans who wished to flee, resulting in over 10,000 men, women, and their children flooding the complex within a matter of hours, while another 100,000 congregated outside the compound, poised to enter. Of course, the Peruvians were overwhelmed by this massive response, but still tried to help those seeking refuge, that is, until the Castro regime blocked the embassy’s water supply and cut off its electricity, leaving Peruvian authorities little choice but to turn away the throng.
