| Summary/Abstract |
This article examines the burst of airline hijacking that occurred from the U.S. to Cuba between 1968 and 1973. Attracted by Cuba s revolutionary mystique and seeking political asylum, sanctuary from racism, participation in Third World liberation movements, haven from criminal charges, and apolitical adventure, Americans hijacked more planes to Cuba during this period than all other global hijacking incidents combined. Constructing Cuba as an idealized imagined nation as an alternative to capitalism, white domination, and U.S. global hegemony and as a portal to Third World movements within the geopolitical context of the Cold War and decolonization, hijackers formulated themselves as beleaguered idealists and political refugees. Influencing U.S.-Cuba relations and resulting in an unprecedented diplomatic collaboration between the two nations to produce a mutual anti-hijacking agreement, the hijacking epidemic of 1968- 73 marks the unlikely meeting point where political protest movements, the African American freedom struggle, and U.S.-Cuba relations collided in the late 1960s.
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