Yahoo! June 12, 2000
Cuba: Baseball Player 'Repented' for Defection Bid
HAVANA, 12 (Reuters) - Cuban baseball player Andy Morales, repatriated last week after a failed defection bid, has ''repented'' of his action but may quit playing baseball in Cuba, a top Cuban sports official has said.
Humberto Rodriguez, who heads Cuba's National Sports Institute (INDER), said Saturday that Morales, 28, did not face any specific punishment, but was aware of the importance of patriotism and discipline in Cuba's socialist sports system.
"He came to see me. ... He expressed his repentance for what he did,'' Rodriguez told Reuters. ``He feels very ashamed, very embarrassed. He has not expressed interest in playing, but rather he wants to work for INDER, and we have opened our doors to him.''
Rodriguez did not say what role the third baseman might have, if he halts his playing career on the island.
Morales left Cuba by boat earlier this month, but was picked up at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard along with 30 other people and sent back Friday in line with 1995 bilateral accords between Washington and Havana.
Apparently intent on breaking into the U.S. Major Leagues, Morales looked depressed upon his return, and his family predicted Cuban sports authorities, who have in the past described defectors as traitors, would ban him from playing.
Rodriguez, however, said the INDER would not sanction or restrict Morales.
"I don't agree with what he did ... but he is, in my opinion, undoubtedly a young man with athletic talent, baseball talent,'' Rodriguez said of Morales, whose career highlight so far was starring in a Cuban national team that played in the Baltimore Orioles in a ground-breaking series last
year.
In one game, Morales had a home run, a double and three RBI in a 12-6 Cuban victory over the Orioles.
``If Andy decides to play, well, his future will depend on him,'' he said. ``The INDER is not placing any specific restriction or punishment on Andy Morales.''
Should Morales decide not to play again here, some would undoubtedly interpret that as a way for him to save face by inflicting a self-punishment rather than the possible humiliation of being ostracized by the authorities.
Morales is the latest in a line of morale-hitting defection attempts by Cuban baseball players eager to seek fame and fortune in the United States.
Here, they play for the equivalent of about $25 a month, although the best players enjoy a hero status and state- bestowed privileges like a car or good house. In the United States, however, major league players can earn millions.
Rodriguez blamed Morales' departure on U.S. immigration law, specifically the Cuban Adjustment Act, which offers preferential treatment to Cubans seeking U.S. residency.
Perhaps the most famous recent defector was pitcher Orlando ''El Duque'' Hernandez, who left Cuba on a small boat in December 1997. He later signed a $6.6 million contract with the New York Yankees and pitched in their triumphant 1999 World Series win.
Cuba's communist President Fidel Castro made sport here amateur-only after he came to power in a 1959 revolution.
Cuban Children To March for Elian
HAVANA (AP) - Some 150,000 children and teen-agers will protest Elian Gonzalez's extended stay in the United States, the Cuban government said Sunday, after the procession was canceled last week due to rain.
The cartoon character Elpidio Valdes - a mustachioed freedom fighter fashioned after the warriors of Cuba's battle for independence - appeared in spots on state television encouraging children to participate.
The communist government had convoked 150,000 schoolchildren and teen-agers for the march Monday morning in front of the U.S. Interests Section, the American mission here. Children were already arriving in buses Friday when the government called off the event as a light rain began to fall.
If rain again disrupts Monday's march, it will be postponed until Tuesday or Wednesday, President Fidel Castro said.
The government on June 2 called out a half-million women for a march outside the seaside Interests Section - one of the largest protests since Elian's international custody battle began more than six months ago.
Elian was rescued off the coast of Florida in November, after his mother and 10 others perished in a sea journey to the United States.
A week ago, a federal appellate court in Atlanta sided with Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, who says only he has the right to speak for his son. The boy's Miami relatives had been seeking a political asylum hearing for the child.
Gonzalez, who was reunited with Elian on April 22, said he wanted to return with his son to Cuba. But under a timetable outlined by Attorney General Janet Reno, Elian would not be able to leave the United States until June 21, to give his Miami relatives a chance to appeal the latest ruling.
Castro Meets With US Business Execs
HAVANA, 10 (AP) - Fidel Castro told visiting American business executives that moves in the U.S. Congress to ease trade sanctions against his nation are a small but important step forward, state media reported.
``I understand it as a first step, as a necessary step to move forward what is only just and correct: the disappearance of the blockade,'' Juventud Rebelde, the daily of Cuba's communist youth quoted Castro as saying Saturday. The Cuban president's comments were also carried by the official
Prensa Latina news agency.
Castro met late Friday with a small group of about 60 executives who traveled to Havana for a two-day trip to explore future trade opportunities in the Caribbean country.
The 38-year-old U.S. embargo currently restricts Americans who want to do business with Cuba, but Congress currently is studying a measure to allow U.S. sales of food and medicine to the island.
Participants in the fourth annual US-Cuba Business Summit arrived in Havana Friday morning from Cancun, Mexico, where they had met with senior Cuban officials. They met later Friday with more officials in Havana, and visited with representatives of a variety of economic sectors, such as
communications, petroleum and biotechnology.
A group of the entrepreneurs toured Old Havana Saturday morning before catching a noon flight back to Cancun. They walked along cobblestone streets and stopped by the Bodeguito del Medio, once a favorite drinking spot of the late American writer Ernest Hemingway.
The business people represented firms including Caterpillar farm equipment, Pepsi Cola Bottling Co. of New York, United Airlines, Wygth Ayerst Labs, the Port of Houston Authority and Silverado Foods Inc., according to a list provided by summit organizers.
Fla. Judge Throws Out Migrant Suit
MIAMI, 10 (AP) - A class-action lawsuit aimed at preventing the government from sending back Cuban migrants who reach U.S. territorial waters but not U.S. soil has been thrown out by a federal judge.
Francisco Abreu, a Miami engineer, filed the lawsuit after his wife and son were intercepted last summer by the U.S. Coast Guard in the Florida Straits, then sent back to Cuba.
U.S. District Judge William M. Hoeveler ruled Thursday that Abreu lacked legal standing to bring the lawsuit on behalf of Cuban migrants because the people the lawsuit proposed to represent don't live in the United States.
Hoeveler also ruled that Abreu's challenge was without merit because the government has the authority to enforce immigration law as it sees fit.
The decision is consistent with previous court rulings deferring to the INS' authority to enforce immigration law.
``I'm disappointed in the decision, though not surprised,'' said Wilfredo Allen, one of Abreu's attorneys.
The INS policy Abreu challenged, known as the ``wet-foot dry-foot'' policy, was put in place in 1995 to help stem the tide of immigrants.
Under the policy, Cubans intercepted at sea are sent back if they cannot prove they face political persecution back home.
Migrants who reach U.S. shores are protected by the older, 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act. They are allowed to stay in this country, and can apply for residency after a year and a day.
Americans Explore Cuban Business
By Anita Snow, Associated Press Writer.
HAVANA, 10 (AP) - About 60 American entrepreneurs eager to do business in Cuba explored possibilities for future investments on the communist island if the U.S. embargo is ever lifted.
``We have to find a way to end this embargo and open a normal trading relationship with Cuba,'' said former Sen. Donald Riegle Jr., of Michigan, now the deputy chairman of Shandwick International, a firm involved in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical equipment and energy.
``I think that we are seeing signs of economic growth here,'' Riegle said Friday following morning sessions of the fourth annual US-Cuba Business Summit. ``I think the United States should be part of this.''
The business people represented firms including Caterpillar farm equipment, Pepsi Cola Bottling Co. of New York, United Airlines, Wygth Ayerst Labs, the Port of Houston Authority and Silverado Foods Inc., according to a list provided by summit organizers.
The participants arrived here Friday from Cancun, Mexico, where they had met with senior Cuban officials, including Foreign Investment Minister Marta Lomas, in the first two days of the summit.
In Cuba on Friday, new Foreign Trade Minister Raul de la Nuez gave participants a rundown on the changes that have occurred in the Cuban economy over the past decade since the break up of the Soviet Union - once the Caribbean island's primary source of aid and trade.
De la Nuez said that although ``the recovery of the Cuban economy is continuing,'' what the island really needs is an ability to trade with its closest and most natural trading partner - the United States.
The minister said he viewed positively ongoing moves in Congress to ease the trade sanctions imposed that the United States first imposed 38 years ago.
``It makes no sense to buy rice in Asia if we could buy it close by,'' he said. ``It makes no sense to buy machinery in Europe if we could buy it in the United States.''
In the afternoon, the business people broke up into smaller groups for visits with representatives in different sectors, such as biotechnology, tourism, agriculture and communications.
``We're ready,'' said Vidal Martinez, vice president of the Port of Houston Authority said during a tour of Havana's Port. ``The moment it opens up, everything's going to come through here.''
Martinez said once the embargo is lifted, port officials in Houston can provide advice on handling different types of cargo. Located across the Gulf of Mexico from Havana, Houston has a huge port and sophisticated infrastructure that would likely handle much of the cargo sent from Cuba to the
United States.
This year the U.S.-Cuban gathering was sponsored by an Italian firm, Cristobal s.r.l., to which each participant paid a $2,950 registration.
The previous summits had been organized by Alamar Associates, a Washington consulting firm. But because the U.S. Treasury Department refused to grant Alamar a license to bring a similar group to Cuba in 1998, Alamar handed over organization of the fourth summit to Cristobal.
Only the first summit, held in 1997, was allowed to travel to Cuba. In 1998 and 1999 the entire summits were held in Cancun, a short plane ride from Havana, and Cuban ministers traveled there to meet with participants.
Kirby Jones, president of Alamar Associates and the summit chairman, said the American participants had not obtained licenses from the U.S. Treasury Department to travel to Cuba, but didn't have to because they were ``fully hosted'' by Desoft, S.A., a Cuban joint venture firm in Havana.
Because of the embargo, the Americans were prohibited from spending any of their own money while on the island.
Desoft was paying for all lodging, meals, transportation, visas, entry or exit fees and gratuities, according to a letter by Washington attorney Daniel E. Waltz included in information on the summit provided by Alamar.
The letter also said that the Italian firm, Cristobal, would not pay or ``reimburse the Cuban host, directly or indirectly, for any of the expenses it incurs as the host of U.S. participants in the summit.''
Immigration Service in Fresh Cuba Controversy
By Frances Kerry
MIAMI, 9 (Reuters) - Seven weeks after Elian Gonzalez was snatched from his Miami relatives, the U.S. immigration service has come under fire again from Cuban exiles, this time for sending a Cuban baseball player back to the communist island.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) repatriated baseball player Andy Morales this week along with 41 other would-be migrants who were picked up at sea heading for the United States.
In previous years, a string of top Cuban baseball players who defected were allowed to settle in the United States and build careers, among them New York Yankees star pitcher Orlando ''Duque'' Hernandez.
But in the case of Morales, who plays for the Cuban national team, the INS indicated he had no grounds for asylum. He was treated just like any of the hundreds of Cubans caught every year trying to come illegally to the United States by raft or boat.
His family and some Cuban exiles worried that Morales was going to suffer for having tried to leave the island.
``I think it's fair to say his baseball days are over in Cuba,'' said Mariela Ferretti, a spokeswoman for the hardline Cuban American National Foundation. ``Here's an individual who is going to be deprived of his God-given talent for political reasons.''
The Morales case followed exile anger with the INS over Elian Gonzalez. The 6-year-old survived a disastrous migrant voyage from Cuba last November in which his mother and 10 other people died only to get caught up in a feud between immigrant relatives in Miami who wanted to keep him in the
United States and his father who wanted him back in Cuba.
Miami's large Cuban exile community furiously condemned the INS when it decided in January that only his father should speak for the child and he should go back to Cuba, a decision so far backed by successive federal courts.
Morales, 28, was picked up by the Coast Guard off Florida last Friday in a speedboat taking 31 passengers -- who were all sent back to Cuba -- and captained by two suspected smugglers who have been turned over to the Border Patrol.
The agency sends officers out on Coast Guard cutters to interview Cubans picked up at sea to make a preliminary assessment. If they are deemed to have a valid claim, they are sent on to the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay in southeast Cuba for further processing, and then if found needy of
asylum, sent on to a third country.
Spokesman Russ Bergeron said the INS has done thousands of interviews since a 1995 accord between Washington and Havana that determined that Cubans caught at sea should be sent home unless they have a good asylum claim.
INS officers seek to find specific indicators that an individual will be persecuted on return, he said, adding ``it is not good enough to say that Cuba is a communist country and I will be persecuted.''
Both Morales' father and wife predicted that Cuba's state- affiliated sports' authorities will ban or restrict Morales in retribution for trying to abandon the island.
Havana says there are no reprisals for repatriated boat- people. But sporting defectors have in the past been routinely condemned by the government as ``traitors.''
Bergeron said U.S. officials in Cuba monitor returnees to ensure they are not persecuted and said that there has been no indication of repatriated Cubans suffering persecution. But the CANF ridiculed the notion that Morales would be able to pick up his life as normal.
``We have to recall the case of 'Duque' Hernandez. Look what happened to him,'' said Ferretti.
Hernandez left the island on a small boat in late 1997. Reaching the Bahamas, he was admitted to the United States on a special visa as a distinguished sportsman but in fact initially turned that down, going to Costa Rica and then entering the United States so he could come to baseball as a
``free agent'' and gain a more lucrative deal. He signed a $6.6 million contract with the New York Yankees and pitched in the team's 1999 World Series victory.
Before he left, Hernandez had been banned from playing baseball on the island -- under suspicion of wanting to defect since his baseball playing half-brother Livan Hernandez left in 1995 -- and was working in a mental health hospital.
``It's outrageous,'' said Ferretti of the Morales case. ``At very least he is going to be ostracized in his own country.''
The INS has made clear it simply wants to uphold the law. Since the 1995 migration accord, the number of Cuban boat people has fallen sharply. Some 1,343 Cubans were caught at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard last year compared with the more than 35,000 who left the island in 1994.
But Cubans still keep trying their luck by raft or in smugglers' boats because under the so-called ``wet foot-dry foot'' policy if they reach U.S. shores they can generally stay. This has led to some recent violent encounters between would-be migrants and Coast Guard officers, with Cubans
desperate to reach land brandishing knives or bombarding officers trying to stop them with tools.
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