By Marc Becker
March 27, 2025
The Trump administration’s recent attacks on activists have revived memories of Cold War-era anticommunist legislation and the repression of political dissidents in the 1950s.
One figure caught in the crosshairs of political persecution during that era was Ricardo Paredes, the secretary general of the Communist Party of Ecuador.
On Friday afternoon, January 26, 1951, U.S. immigration authorities detained Paredes on Ellis Island in New York, declaring him an excludable alien.
Paredes was not living in the United States, nor did he intend to stay. He was merely in transit on his way back to Ecuador from Prague after attending the Second World Peace Congress in Warsaw, Poland, the previous November. Despite his transitory status, he became entangled in the restrictions of the recently enacted McCarran Act.
Named after its principal sponsor, Senator Pat McCarran (D-Nev.), a supporter of Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisc.), the Internal Security Act of 1950 was designed to combat alleged subversive activities. It mandated the registration of communist organizations and granted the president the authority to detain individuals suspected of espionage or sabotage.
Passed over President Harry Truman’s veto, the law quickly became a powerful tool to suppress dissent. One of its most notable applications was the revocation of renowned singer and actor Paul Robeson’s passport to prevent him from traveling outside of the United States.
Mobilizing for Paredes’s Release
News of Paredes’s detention spread rapidly in Ecuador, prompting an immediate outpouring of support. Friends, activists, and political allies mobilized to demand his release. Letters flooded the editors of major newspapers, and even pro-business, pro-U.S. publications voiced their objections.
Editorials denounced the injustice of imprisoning Paredes simply for holding beliefs that sought to promote human dignity. Many criticized the hypocrisy of a country that claimed to champion democracy while suppressing political dissent.
Supporters called on the United Nations Human Rights Committee to intervene, invoking the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Ecuadorian President Galo Plaza Lasso faced mounting pressure to act. The foreign ministry directed Ecuador’s consul in New York, Clemente Durán Ballén, to investigate the circumstances of Paredes’s arrest.
In Ecuador, protestors took to the streets, demanding justice and condemning the U.S. government’s actions. They painted the town red with slogans that pushed for his release.
Remarkably, the campaign garnered widespread backing. Even those who disagreed with Paredes’s communist views rallied for his release, recognizing his stature as a respected medical doctor and public figure.
A Troubling Detention
Paredes had purchased his Air France ticket in Paris, with a planned route through New York and Panama before arriving in Quito. Airline officials assured him he would face no issues transiting through the U.S. Yet upon his arrival, immigration officers scrutinized his visas from Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia. Alarmed, they began a series of interrogations.
Edward Shargnessy, the head of U.S. immigration services, announced that under questioning Paredes admitted to being a member of the Communist Party. Paredes clarified that he had no intention of remaining in the United States and was solely en route to Ecuador. Nevertheless, authorities transferred him to Ellis Island, where he joined other detainees, including Cubans and individuals imprisoned simply for their nationality or ideological affiliations.
A Swift Victory
The robust public outcry proved effective. After just sixteen hours in detention, immigration officials accompanied Paredes on a plane bound for Miami. From there, he continued his journey home without further incident.
Upon his return to Quito on January 29, the mainstream newspaper El Comercio published an extensive interview with him. Like the Black Trinidadian-born Communist Party leader Claudia Jones, who had also been deported under the McCarran Act, Paredes reflected on the symbolic irony of the Statue of Liberty. “I was unable to see the famous Statue of Liberty,” he remarked, because its back was turned on those imprisoned on Ellis Island.
During the interview, Paredes also shared his impressions of the Second World Peace Congress in Warsaw. Among the thousands of attendees were religious leaders, politicians, writers, and scientists from around the world. He described the collective yearning for peace following the devastation of World War II.
Echoes of Repression
A month after his return, Paredes addressed a large crowd at a peace committee meeting in Quito, recounting his experiences at the congress. His steadfast commitment to advocating for peaceful conflict resolution had made him a target of U.S. authorities.
The swift and successful mobilization for his release did not go unnoticed. U.S. diplomats in Quito expressed alarm at the broad support Paredes received, particularly from individuals who generally maintained pro-U.S. stances. Their concern underscored the influence and resilience of social movements in Ecuador.
Then, as now, those who fight for social justice are often labeled as subversives. The surveillance, repression, and intimidation they face reflect a troubling continuity in the treatment of political dissent.
Paredes’s story remains a testament to the power of collective action in the face of injustice.
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-Marc Becker is a historian who uses political surveillance documents to write the history of the Latin American left. Among his publications are Contemporary Latin American Revolutions (Rowman and Littlefield, 2022); The CIA in Ecuador (Duke University Press, 2020); and The FBI in Latin America: The Ecuador Files (Duke University Press, 2017).
