Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Cuba's Mariel boatlift
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Cuba's Mariel boatlift
In April 1980, thousands of Cubans tried to escape the country by claiming asylum at the Peruvian embassy in Havana.
In response, Cuban President Fidel Castro opened the port of Mariel to anyone who wanted to leave, including criminals. From April until October more than 100,000 Cubans left for the US. Mirta Ojito was one of them. She spoke to Simon Watts in 2011.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.
(Photo: Cuban refugees in 1980. Credit: Bettmann/Contributor via Getty Images)
View all episodes
By BBC World Service
4.5
903903 ratings
In April 1980, thousands of Cubans tried to escape the country by claiming asylum at the Peruvian embassy in Havana.
In response, Cuban President Fidel Castro opened the port of Mariel to anyone who wanted to leave, including criminals. From April until October more than 100,000 Cubans left for the US. Mirta Ojito was one of them. She spoke to Simon Watts in 2011.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.
(Photo: Cuban refugees in 1980. Credit: Bettmann/Contributor via Getty Images)
More shows like Witness History
View all
Global News Podcast
7,865 Listeners
From Our Own Correspondent
376 Listeners
Business Daily
527 Listeners
More or Less
856 Listeners
Newshour
1,073 Listeners
World Business Report
296 Listeners
In Our Time
5,569 Listeners
The Documentary Podcast
1,805 Listeners
HistoryExtra podcast
3,203 Listeners
The History Hour
588 Listeners
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
2,102 Listeners
Great Lives
500 Listeners
The Interview
358 Listeners
Lives Less Ordinary
588 Listeners
The Inquiry
743 Listeners
The Life Scientific
228 Listeners
The Audio Long Read
842 Listeners
Unexpected Elements
363 Listeners
CrowdScience
476 Listeners
Evil Genius with Russell Kane
354 Listeners
Have You Heard George's Podcast?
235 Listeners
Elis James and John Robins
330 Listeners
You're Dead to Me
3,216 Listeners
Sport's Strangest Crimes
78 Listeners
Uncanny
666 Listeners
Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley
567 Listeners
Believe in Magic
628 Listeners
History's Heroes
507 Listeners
The Global Story
392 Listeners
Miss Me?
241 Listeners
The History Podcast
49 Listeners
Rory Stewart: The Long History of...
77 Listeners
The History Bureau
82 Listeners