On April 21, 1959, in New York City, Fidel Castro speaks before the Women Lawyers Association of the State of New York at the Statler Hilton.
Alejandro Saavedra/photo courtesy of Mike Wilkins
Almost 60 years ago, newly minted Cuban leader Fidel Castro visited the United Nations in New York, right after successfully overthrowing Cuba's authoritarian government.
Castro's visit included an event with the Council on Foreign Affairs and a private talk with then-Vice President Richard Nixon.
Photographer Alejandro Saavedra captured the 1959 trip, and his photos were lost for years, ending up in an online auction and eventually in the hands of The World's audio engineer Mike Wilkins.
Wilkins has shared the catalogued photos, which show Castro's mixed reception: both anti-communism protesters and parents dressing their children in revolutionary fatigues.
February 1959 – New York City, NY – Dr. Manuel Bisbe, Cuban delegate to the United Nations (center), greets Fidel Castro's goodwill delegation; (left to right) Rafael Ochoa, Camilo Cienfuegos, Nene Lopez, Juan Almeida Bosque (partially hidden), Pedro Miret Prieto, and Ramon Lopez.Alejandro Saavedra / photo courtesy of Mike WilkinsApril 1959 – New York City, NY – These pickets were mounted opposite to the Hotel Astor in Times Square, where Cuban leader Fidel Castro was addressing the Overseas Press Club. Numerous police officers and federal agents kept watch over the protesters.Photographer: Alejandro Saavedra/photo courtesy of Mike WilkinsApril 21, 1959 – New York City, NY – Fidel Castro, the leader of the Cuban revolutionaries, smiles at the crowds that welcomed him to the city.Alejandro Saavedra / photo courtesy of Mike WilkinsApril 21, 1959 – New York City, NY – This child, with a false beard in the style of Fidel Castro, is carried on the shoulders of sympathizers of the revolutionary leader, as they await his arrival at Penn Station.Alejandro Saavedra / photo courtesy of Mike WilkinsApril 21, 1959 – New York City, NY – Jubilant crowds at Penn Station await the arrivial of Fidel Castro.Alejandro Saavedra / photo courtesy of Mike WilkinsApril 23, 1959 – New York City, NY – Revolutionary leader Fidel Castro takes a few minutes to read "El Imparcial" during the banquet that the Oversease Press Club held in his honor at the Hotel Astor.Alejandro Saavedra / photo courtesy of Mike WilkinsJanuary 1959 – Havana, Cuba – Commander Camilo Cienfuegos (center, with cigar in hand) offers to take reporters to one of the places where those under Batista's orders had been torturing political prisoners and sympathizers of Fidel Castro. Alejandro Saavedra / photo courtesy of Mike WilkinsJan. 11, 1959 – Havana, Cuba – These five little brothers, accompanied by their parents, leave a local broadcast station, and walk down The Prado empty-handed. They had come seeking toys that were being given away on Jan. 11, declared a holiday.Alejandro Saavedra / photo courtesy of Mike WilkinsApril 1959 – New York City, NY – A crowd of Anti-Castro protesters line Broadway in Manhattan during Fidel Castro's visit.Alejandro Saavedra / photo courtesy of Mike WilkinsJanuary 1959 – Havana, Cuba – Standing (left to right) Lillia Rielo, Adabella Apointe, Tete Puebla and Isabel Rielo. Kneeling is Olga Guevara (no relation to "Che"). Puebla went on to become the highest-ranking female officer in the revolutionary forces.Alejandro Saavedra / photo courtesy of Mike WilkinsJanuary 1959 – Havana, Cuba – More than a thousand men, ex-military and ex-police officers of the Batista regime, fill "La Cabana" prison. They await investigations into their personal activities against Castro's sympathizers. Alejandro Saavedra / photo courtesy of Mike WilkinsJanuary 1959 – Havana, Cuba – Several soldiers and a guerrilla gather around a lion cub that was found in the house of a prison official. Alejandro Saavedra / photo courtesy of Mike WilkinsJanuary 1959 – Havana, Cuba – Well-known artists from the televison network CMQ, including Mimi Cal, Doris de la Torres, Violeta Jimenez, Sonia Calero, Nancy Lopez, and Heriberto Ortega Lopez, read "El Imparcial" at Bar Alaska in Havana.Alejandro Saavedra / photo courtesy of Mike WilkinsJanuary 1959 – Havana, Cuba – In an automobile that used to be in the service of ex-dictator Batista, three soldiers of the "26th of July Movement" now patrol the streets of Havana.Alejandro Saavedra / photo courtesy of Mike WilkinsJanuary 1959 – Havana, Cuba – Photographer Alejandro Saavedra.Alejandro Saavedra / photo courtesy of Mike Wilkins
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