Peace and Security Review, Vol.1 No. 2 - International Centre for ...

98 Peace and Security Review Vol.1, No.2, Second Quarter, 2008
resisting a take-over of his flight, few in the West viewed this as a criminal
act. From then through the late 1950s, asylum was a fairly common goal (twenty
out of thirty-seven hijackings). 6 The escape from persecution or prosecution
phase waned from the late 1950s onward as the jet aircraft became more
wide spread and the focus shifted to the United States from Eastern Europe.
The revolution in Cuba led by Fidel Castro overthrew the pro-US dictatorship
of Fulgencio Batista in January 1959, and Castro began to consolidate
his hold on power. A hijacker “highway” between the United States and the
island soon appeared. Cubans who had been associated with the Batista regime
or disliked the drift toward communism, devised ways to get to the United
States, just ninety miles away. From 1960 to 1969 there were forty-nine
hijackings or attempted hijackings between Cuba and its neighbour out of a
world wide total of ninety-one. 7 From 1961 some of the traffic went in the
opposite direction; those wishing to make a quick exit from US jurisdiction ⎯
criminals, the mentally unbalanced, and some self-described revolutionaries ⎯
escaped to Cuba. Almost all ended up serving time in Cuban jails, although a
few ‘revolutionaries’ managed to escape that fate.
There may have been political motivations in escaping from Eastern
Europe or Cuba, but aircraft were not viewed as the means of delivering the
message. There was no effort the use the aircraft for anything other than a
vehicle for escape; individuals fleeing communist countries were manifesting
a desire to flee that repressive system, but they were not seizing aircraft to
call attention to the broader political questions, only their individual desire for
a better life. Those fleeing to Cuba were attempting to escape justice, or in the
case of homesick Cubans return home; they had no broader political agenda.
People still use aircraft as a means of escape; there were several hijackings
attempted in China during early 2003 which were initiated by persons trying
to reach Taiwan But as a primary means of escape, hijacking was rarely used.
This phase also had an impact on South Asia, as the first hijacking took place
in 1961 and most of the subsequent hijackings appear to be inspired by the
desire to flee.
Phase two wedded politics to interference with international civil aviation
and began in 1968. 8 The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
6 Ibid., pp. 10-17, for the motivations and see Jin-Tai Choi, Aviation Terrorism: Historical Survey,
Perspectives and Responses, p. 6, for the total numbers for the period.
7 Ibid., Gero, pp. 17-31, and Choi p. 6. A total of 80 of the 91 hijackings or attempted hijackings
had as a destination Cuba.
8 There were politically motivated interferences before 1968, The hijacking of a PAN AM flight
during the 1931 coup in Peru is the first example, while others argue the hijacking of a Cuban
internal flight by Raul Castro in 1959 as the first political hijacking.
Vol.1, No.2 2008 pp.95-114