Miami-Dade Commission honors Makasi Warriors in fight for freedom
MIAMI - Miami-Dade Commissioner Pepe Diaz asked those in the crowded commission chambers to take their seats and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I am beyond honored and proud to introduce The Makasi Warriors."
A group of proud 80-year-olds, many veterans of the Bay of Pigs operation were being recognized for what went on in the mid-1960s in the Congo.
Yes, the Congo, post-Bay of Pigs, the CIA sent a group of Cuban American commandos, created a CIA Navy operation on Lake Tanganyika, and put together an Instant Air Force to ward off a communist take over of the Congo.
As the group stood in the front of the hall, Janet Ray, who lost her pilot father at the Bay of Pigs, addressed the group saying, "You lost comrades on the wall of the CIA, there are three stars."
The Congo was dangerous, but for the Cuban CIA contractors, it was another chance at Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.
Guevara was in the region leading Cuban troops. The worry, a communist take-over would put uranium resources in control of Russia and China.
The Makasi Warriors, as they are now called, helped subdue the communist-backed Simba revolution, ran by Guevara and his Cuban force out of Africa, and rescued American missionaries who were about to be killed by Simba tribesmen.
The Makasi pilots, commandos, and members of the Navy operation did not talk about their service.
For years, even wives and children had little idea that their loved ones went to Africa, to work for the CIA.
Pilot Freddy Flaquer told CBS4 Miami, "We swore we would not going to talk about it for 30 years."
Even then most involved, kept their time in the Congo under CIA-mandated wraps.
Eventually, several magazine articles appeared and two books detailed some of the action, but it was not until a series of local Miami TV news reports hit the air that many locals figured out there was a CIA mission involving Bay of Pigs Veterans.
Due to the efforts of Manny Pichardo, whose father was part of the "Congo Navy," the group was honored by the full commission.
Freddy Flaquer commented, "Finally, here were are 55 years later and we got it."
"It" is finally local recognition for the secret operation that not many even in the exile community knew about."
After the Congo, many of the men went into the aviation business, some here in Miami-Dade County and many joined local businesses. Others continued to contract with the CIA, but all to this day continue their fight against communism.
