This story first aired on November 8, 2007.
Today, the story of how Denver’s new mayor came to the United States. Guillermo “Bill” Vidal was sworn in last week. He replaces John Hickenlooper who is now Colorado’s governor. Vidal will serve until voters pick a new mayor. That election is May 11th. Bill Vidal is Denver’s first foreign-born mayor, something he acknowledged during his inaugural speech.
Mayor Vidal was ten when he came to the U.S. as one of 14-thousand children who fled Fidel Castro’s Cuba as part of “Operation Peter Pan.” The idea was to put Cuban children in U.S. foster homes while their parents waited for permission to follow. But Vidal landed in an orphanage with his two brothers.
Several years ago, Bill Vidal wrote a book about his experiences “Boxing For Cuba.” This morning, we listen back to our 2007 discussion with him. He told Ryan Warner then about the day in 1961 when he separated from his parents.
