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Saul Martinez
Professor Mary Gifford
2/18/2014
English 114B
The Pursuit of Freedom
In Finding Maana by Mirta Ojito we learned about two extraordinary men that change
Cuba in the 1980s Ernesto Pinto and Hector Sanyustiz. What impacted these men to make a
difference in Cuba, was it there age, ideology, or how they were raise? This two men lived
completely different lives one a criminal and the other an ambassador but little did they know
that their lives would soon meet and their actions would change the lives of thousands of
Cubans.
Ernesto Pinto was born in Germany in 1964, right after World War II, Pintos earliest
memories were of playing in the rubble in Munich. According to Finding Manana by Mitta Ojito
his father also named Ernesto Pinto moved his family to the jungles of Peru in Lima. Ernesto
Pinto grew up to despised what the Americans had to do to win the war, he especially distrusted
anyone who wore a military uniform. Ernesto Pinto Viewed diplomacy as the only way to end
conflicts without having to bomb entire cities (Ojito, pg103). Ernesto Pinto became the
ambassador of Peru and lived in Cuba in a poorly secured embassy with his wife and kids.
Ernesto told the Cuban army that he needed more security but he was highly ignored. According
to Finding Manana by Mirta Ojito, Pinto asked the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Relations for
authorization to move the embassy from its virtually unprotected, open site to the twenty-third
floor of a secure building downtown, but his request had not yet been approved (Ojito pg97).
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Ernesto didnt know it yet but something big was going to happen in his embassy that would
change Cuba.
Hector Sanyustiz was born on September 27, 1949 in La Torcasa, a small town in Cuba.
Sanyustiz was born in a rural area; where he climbed on trees, rode horses, milked cows, and
slaughter pigs. Like any good parents Hectors parents decided that their children would be
better in the city and moved to Jesus Del Monte a poor barrio of Havana. According to Finding
Manana by Mirta Ojito, it was hard for Sanyustiz to adapt to this new life style, he dislike
wearing uniforms and he especially dislike going to school Sanyustiz soon dropped out of
school and began doing odd jobs like selling newspaper, shining shoes, running errands for
prostitutes, and caring water for old ladies(Ojito pg80-81). Sanyustiz enjoyed the freedom that
he had but in January 1959 Castro took over Havana. In Finding Manana Sanyustiz was told that
the revolution was meant for people like him, poor misguided [But] Hector saw how the
revolution eroded, one by one, the small he freedom he treasured(Ojito pg81-82). Sanyustiz
knew at that moment that he had to leave Cuba.
On April 1
st
Sanyustiz knew that it would be the last day they can possibly seek asylum,
so he set up a plan to break into the embassy. Sanyustiz devised a plan in which with the help of
his friends Radames Gomez and Raul Diaz Molina would crash a bus into the Peruvian embassy
and would run inside before the guards opened fired on them. Sanyustiz knew that this was going
to be a dangerous plan with high risks and he would have to be the one to drive the bus through
the gates of the embassy. According to Finding Manana Sanyustiz took the wheel of the bus and
ordered for the people in the bus to lie down, he knew that the guards would aim to kill him.
Sanyustiz pressed the gas and quickly reach the front of the embassy but hector had not
calculated two things: how wide the trees was and how fast the guard could run. Sanyustiz felt
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the tree trunk crash on the side of the bus and the metal of the bus pressing against his left leg
while guard where shooting at him. He pressed on the gas and decided to run over the guards,
when the bus finally came to a halt more than a third was inside the embassy. Hector was in pain
but he knew he that it didnt matter anymore because he was safe. Sanyustiz didnt know it yet
but he had started something big in Cuba. While attacking the Peruvian embassy one of the
guard was killed, which infuriated Castro and caused him to act without thinking and allowed
anyone wanting asylum to go to the Peruvian embassy. According to Mirta Ojito in Finding
Manana she says Castros judgment may have been clouded by a series of personal problems,
as well as by a host of internal and international pressures(Ojito pg114). Castro miscalculated
the people that would seek asylum he believe that no more than few hundred people would seek
asylum but thousands showed up at the front yard of the Peruvian embassy. In a matter of hours
Sanyustiz was able to liberate thousands of Cubans.
Ernesto Pinto believed in diplomacy not war, he knew that it was going to be up to him to
find a way to get the Cubans under his protection out of Cuba safely. In a matter of moments all
eyes were on the Pinto and Castro, to see what actions where they going to take? Pinto knew that
violence would not solve the problem, he grew up in a country torn by war and didnt want
history to repeat itself so when he got into Castro limo to talk about the situation he took out his
revolver. Pinto was making a statement by saying he is a man of peace but Castro revealed his
own weapon, as if indicating that Pinto should keep his (Ojito 106-107) as a diplomat Pinto
went unarmed. Castro handed Pinto a paper, which if signed would allowed Cuban troops to go
inside the Peruvian embassy and get rid of the people seeking asylum, but Pinto refuse even to
touch it fearing for the lives that were relying on him. Pinto negotiated with Castro telling him
Im willing to negotiate in whatever terms you want, except death. My methods are peaceful.
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Im a diplomat, not a revolutionary (Ojito 108), by telling Castro that he was not a revolutionary
he was telling Castro he was not on his side. Pinto was risking his live and his family and he
knew it. Castro had control of the whole island and made his point to Pinto by saying We know
you are worried about your children... we also know that your children are not here anymore.
We know where they are and that they are safe (Ojito 109). Pinto at that moment knew what
kind of power Castro had but knew that if he didnt continue trying to negotiate with Castro then
thousands of people would suffer Castros wrath. Sanyustiz started a revolution in Cuba without
even knowing it, all he wanted was his freedom back but thanks to his plan to break into the
embassy thousands of Cubans got their freedom back as well.
Revolutionary is defined as a person who works for or engages in political revolution.
Sanyustiz to me is revolutionary, he started something that cause people to want to change their
lives and go against the government. Sanyustiz was looking for his freedom that he lost at a
young age and without knowing became a revolutionary. Sanyustiz did what no other person
would do and go against Castro. In Communist Cuba Castro is the leader, the commander in
chief, nothing gets done without his approval. Cuba is so strict that you can go to jail for not
having a job, they were called undesirables. Sanyustiz being an undesirable knew that there was
no life for him in Cuba and decided to leave no matter the consequences. Sanyustiz knew that
anybody wanting to leave Cuba would lose his or her job and the government would no longer
help them, so in case his plan didnt work he told his wife to stay in Cuba he would come back
for her with a visa. Sanyustiz sacrifice himself for the better good of his family even though he
knew he would be sent to prison or executed if capture. When asked by the Miami Herald if it
was worth it Sanyustiz answered Of course it was worth it,'' he said. ``I found peace. All I ever
wanted was to live in peace, to work and earn a salary that would allow me to live decently. That
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wasn't possible in Cuba (Santiago). Sanyustiz help free thousands of Cubans from communist
Cuba but none would have been possible without Ernesto Pinto diplomacy.
Hector Sanyustiz may have started the changes in Cuba but the actions that Ernesto Pinto
took is what really earned peoples freedom back. Pinto could have easily signed the paper that
allowed the Cuban army to remove the people from his embassy, but instead he fought for what
was right, for justice even though his family was threaten by Castro himself. It takes a special
man to fight against a dictator away from his land willing to put both the Peruvian and Cuban
government at war. These two men were completely opposite from each other one a politician
and the other a Fugitive but both set 125,000 people free from Cuba. Hector Sanyustiz seek
freedom and Ernesto helped him and thousands more get it.
This two men lived completely different lives but little did they know that their lives
would soon meet and change the lives of thousands of Cubans. We take for granted the freedom
that we have here in the United States when there are thousands of people wishing they could
have the freedom we have. The pursuit of happiness led Sanyustiz to break into the Peruvian
embassy and risk his own life. Ernesto Pinto didnt think that people had to die to have freedom,
he put himself and his family in danger in order to protect people who broke into his home. The
selflessness of these two men gave thousands of families freedom that they deserve and was
taken from them from an evil greedy man. It doesnt matter if you are an important man or just
an ordinary one anyone can make a difference.



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Work Citied Page
Ojito, Mirta . Finding Maana: Memoir of a Cuban Exodus. ew ork: Penguin, 2005.
Print.
Santiago, Fabiola, ed. "The Cuban Who Sparked the Exodus Breaks His Silence." Miami Herald
[Miami] 6 Sept. 1998: Web. <http://www2.fiu.edu/~fcf/marielfounder.html>.