By Chris Gaither And Mireidy Fernandez. cgaither@herald.com. Published Sunday, July 9, 2000, in the Miami Herald .
Noris Peña Martínez got what she wanted Saturday -- freedom.
The Cuban doctor, who arrived in Sweden early Saturday morning with fellow defector Leonel Córdova Rodríguez, called her mother in Cuba to say how thrilled she was to be out of Zimbabwe.
Her first words, made in a call from an undisclosed hotel: ``I'm free, free in Sweden!''
Swedish officials acknowledged Saturday that their country had granted the doctors a two-month tourist visa for humanitarian reasons. From there, officials said, the Cubans can choose their final destination. They have said they want to go to the United States, which on June 9 offered to take
the doctors in.
``We're thrilled that everything is working out for her,'' said her father, José Peña, in a telephone interview from the family's home in Camagüey, Cuba. ``She still doesn't know when she'll be going to the United States, but she's anxiously waiting to make it.''
Lennart Hjelmaker, Swedish ambassador to Zimbabwe, said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees asked the Scandinavian country to host the doctors. He and other Swedish officials said they didn't know if, or how long, the doctors would stay.
``Upon arrival, it is up to them as to what they should do next,'' said Helena Gustavsson, a spokeswoman for the Swedish foreign ministry. ``That's their own decision.''
Peña told her mother, Noris Martínez, that she is only awaiting the completion of paperwork before traveling to the United States.
``I know her Christian faith kept her spirits up,'' her mother said. ``She felt that the United Nations and the whole world was behind her defection. Even though she was jailed, she felt confident that she would get out and go to the United States.''
Viktor Sidabras, a spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Stockholm, would not comment on the possibilty of the doctors traveling to the United States.
An aide to Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., who visited Zimbabwe before the country's elections on June 24 and 25, said he delivered a care package to the doctors, which included toiletries, a Spanish-language Bible and ``human rights and inspirational reading materials.'' The newspapers were removed,
but everything else was allowed in, he said.
``They told me the Cubans were absolutely despondent, so we were concerned,'' said the staffer, who asked to remain anonymous. ``I'm absolutely thrilled they were released.''
One of Córdova's former professors said he will welcome his student into his Kendall home if Córdova decides to come to the United States. Emilio de Quesada, a general practitioner in Hialeah, said he taught Córdova at the University of Havana in the early 1990s.
De Quesada said he will help Córdova study for American medical certification. ``I'm sure he's going to have his credentials within a year,'' de Quesada said. ``I know these things about my students.''
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