On January 1, 1959, the government of Fulgencio Batista fell and Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba. Rumours started doing the rounds that all children would be taken against their parents’ wishes and sent to military schools or to Soviet labour camps. America’s Central Intelligence Agency launched Operation Pedro Pan. From December 1960 to October 1962, more than 14,000 Cuban children arrived alone in the United States and were relocated in 30 states.
Perez says he spent the money because M&M led him to believe that it was ready with the product and so he had got the network ready for it. He also says that M&M took away trade secrets. He alleges that they also tried to buy him out. He wants M&M to compensate for this.
(This story appears in the 06 July, 2012 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)
A critical and unbiased article on the subject. Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India
on Oct 28, 2013The author deserves praise for writing a well-balanced account of a very important dispute that has many shades of grey and could ensnare even a seasoned reasoner in a trap of bias. He has trodden a very careful middle line, relying only on verifiable information. I am a bit disappointed though that Mr. Anand Mahindra, whom I respect a lot, hasn't come clean on this and personally spoken to Forbes India to clear the doubts. Whatever be the outcome of the case, one thing is clear. Even mature Indian companies are complete novices when it comes to globalization. They just don't know how to sequence the execution. In fact, many don't even seem to know what ambitions they need to set for themselves. I think Mahindra & Mahindra is essentially an honest group and will resolve this dispute in a fair manner. But the lesson they must learn is that what works in India may not work abroad. You need to build plenty of capacity in terms of management skills before embarking on major journeys. Meanwhile, don't give fancy interviews to the media misleading them about your projects.
on Jun 28, 2012I will like ot thank Yvonne Conde for clearing the issue about Pedro Pan, my parents suffer very much when they sent me alone at age 12 to the US so I would not be indoctrinated into the communist system, that is also the reason why I left the business in Romania.
on Jun 27, 2012Mr. Mirsha. Your article was very well written and fair but there are some things said that need to be clarified because the information you are receiving is not quite the truth. 1. I had a very successful automotive career for 17 years owning two very profitable new car dealerships in Atlanta Georgia until I sold them and decided to get involved in the distribution of vehicles, my first mistake was to do business with a communist country and the mentality that goes with that system, after a few years of trying to do a business in the way we do in the US, the corruption was so great that we walked away from the project, then I thought doing business with Mahindra would be like doing business with a US corporation, BIG SURPRISE, worse than Romania. 2. The EPA certificate was issued by the US goverment on August 17th, 2010, two months after Mahindra claimed they were not able to meet certification, on top of that Dr. Goenka made a public statement on May the 15th, 2010 to Automotive News that they had passed all US standards and will apply for the certificate the end of May, well they applied for the certificate at the end Of June after they deemed the contract had expired and got certified a month later, YOU BE THE JUDGE, who is telling the truth, Goenka?, well see in a US court. 3. Mahindra keeps claiming that GV did not have the financials, well GV was not the buyers, GV was the distributor, the buyers were GV dealers and they had over 160 million dollars in credit lines specific to buy Mahindra vehicles, GV dealers had the financial capacity to buy more vehicles than Mahindra produces in a year. Eventually Mahindra will have to go infront of a US judge and tell the truth, something that is not to common in that company, this time they will not be able to hide behind arbitration, the US judge will never allow Mahindra to walke away from 347 US dealer and their investment without getting to the bottom of the situation, the truth will come out and Mahindra will pay dearly for all the lies, this is the US where they can not do what they do in their country. By the Way, I was told by Mahindra top officials that they own the press in India, if this is true, sounds like Romania. Time will tell the truth and mahindra will pay very big.
on Jun 27, 2012Mr. Mishra: Operation Pedro Pan was NOT launched by the CIA. It was started by Cuban parents sending their children out of the country as individual freedom eroded and indoctrination increased in Cuba Yvonne Conde, NYC Author, "Operation Pedro Pan, the Untold Exodus of 14,048 Cuban Children."
on Jun 26, 2012Thank you for your observation Ms Conde. It seems that there are two views out there on the historical antecedents of Operation Peter Pan or Pedro Pan. And there are many who like you believe that there was no CIA involvement. Certain other sources, apart from Wikipedia, such as the National Archives of the US Government say this \"..From 1960 to 1962, in a program partially funded by the U.S. Government, 14,048 Cuban minors arrived in Miami, sent to America by parents terrified that the new communist government would ship their children to Soviet work camps.\" at http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2005/nr05-130.html. Another book The Bay of Pigs and the CIA By Juan Carlos RodrÃguez mentions this: \"...Page 55 | Legal Custody of Children....Operation Peter Pan began to take shape in Washington in mid-1960. (It was called that because Peter Pan had taken the three darling children away to Never-Never Land.) The name was sadly ironic: for many of those children who were sent out of Cuba, the United States would be a land from which they would never, never return home. The operation formed part of the arsenal used to psychologically soften up the Cuban people. With it, the Propaganda Section in Quarters Eye decided to unleash a propaganda campaign to make ordinary Cubans believe that, under a communist government, children - like the land, industries, stores and housing - would become the property of the state. If that happened, parents would lose legal custody of their children....The CIA experts were confident that, if they managed to sow that doubt in some of the people, the fear would gather momentum and could lead to the exodus of thousands of children, split up families and thus undermine the families\' support of the government. Undoubtedly, it would be a most effective destabilizing measure....\" Many authors have also said (http://goo.gl/3jDu2) that because the official documents related to this operation have not been declassified the complete picture is difficult to piece together. But we respect your view and the perspective it brings to this contentious issue.
on Jun 27, 2012Fantastic piece.....very well explained what happened....
on Jun 26, 2012