Sven’s declarative answers were never properly sourced and were pure conjecture.
The Cuban children were classified as REFUGEES escaping political consequences, therefore the ordinary visa requirements were waived for US entry.
“The creation of Operation Pedro Pan is credited to Father Bryan O Walsh who functioned as the Director of the now defunct Catholic Welfare Bureau (which became the Catholic Charities organization). Fearing that their children would grow up subject to state compelled Marxist-Leninist indoctrination, Cuban parents requested the Catholic Welfare Bureau to allow them to send their children to the U.S., specifically to Miami where many of them had relatives. Once the U.S. announced its break in diplomatic ties with Cuba on January 3, 1961,63 the U.S. Department of State authorized the Catholic Welfare Bureau to inform the parents in Cuba that ............ the government waived the visa requirements for their children,........ thereby enabling the children to come to Miami via U.S. commercial flights. Once the operation of commercial flights between Cuba and the U.S. ended in October 1962, the children would be sent to Spain or Mexico and then re-routed to Miami.
Without a US passport, Barry would have had to possess a valid US visa for entry. Without this in hand, he could not board an international inbound flight to the USA. Perhaps they went to the US embassy in Jakarta and acquired one to expedite his travel.
All the rest is purely conjecture by Sven. An adult boarding an international flight in the 60’s would have been refused at the ticket gate in Jakarta. An unaccompanied minor would have been absolutely undeniably rejected.
“...An adult boarding an international flight in the 60’s would have been refused at the ticket gate in Jakarta. An unaccompanied minor would have been absolutely undeniably rejected.”
Makes sense. However, let’s allow for the political situation in Indonesia at the time. He might have been accompanied by a member of Kopassus and that changes the circumstances somewhat. Something took place that required the boy to be removed from Indonesia. That period of history there is not commonly understood.
Indonesia’s transition to the “New Order” in the mid-1960s, ousted the country’s first president, Sukarno, after 22 years in the position. One of the most tumultuous periods in the country’s modern history, it was the commencement of Suharto’s 31-year presidency.
Described as the great dhalang (”puppet master”), Sukarno drew power from balancing the opposing and increasingly antagonistic forces of the army and Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). By 1965, the PKI extensively penetrated all levels of government and gained influence at the expense of the army.[1]
On 30 September 1965, six of the military’s most senior officers were killed in an action (generally labelled an “attempted coup”) by the so-called 30 September Movement, a group from within the armed forces. Within a few hours, Major General Suharto mobilised forces under his command and took control of Jakarta. Anti-communists, initially following the army’s lead, went on a violent purge of communists throughout the country, killing an estimated half million people and destroying the PKI, which was officially blamed for the crisis.[2][3]
The politically weakened Sukarno was forced to transfer key political and military powers to General Suharto, who had become head of the armed forces. In March 1967, the Indonesian parliament (MPRS) named General Suharto acting president. He was formally appointed president one year later. Sukarno lived under virtual house arrest until his death in 1970.
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In 1970...is it possible the son of the friend of Sukarno was ejected from the country?