Punchlines. Published Sunday, July 10, 2000, in the Miami Herald .

Thanks to Sweden and quiet diplomacy, the ordeal of Leonel Córdova Rodríguez, 31, and Noris Peña Martínez, 25, the Cuban doctors who sought asylum in Zimbabwe ended happily. But the free world should not quickly forget the outrageous attempt by the Cuban government to literally kidnap these doctors and return them home, nor the connivance of the Zimbabwean government in that plan.

The contempt for human rights displayed by both governments clearly shows their inability to be trusted by other nations. The doctors arrived in Sweden -- and freedom -- on Friday after spending a nightmarish month locked up in various locations, some undisclosed, by Zimbabwean authorities. Their ``crime'': seeking political asylum in the Canadian embassy.

The Zimbabwean government of Robert Mugabe, a friend of Fidel Castro and of his repressive tactics, initially conspired with Cuban diplomats to send the pair back to Cuba before the asylum pleas could be processed. Had the doctors not thwarted the kidnapping by enlisting help from an airline employee as they were being shipped home under guard, no doubt they'd be hidden away in a Castro prison today.

Copyright 2000 Miami Herald

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