By Sandra Marquez Garcia. smarquez@herald.com. Published Monday, August 7, 2000, in the Miami Herald .
The two Cuban medical workers who made international headlines after being detained in Zimbabwe and nearly deported back to Cuba are expected to arrive in Miami tonight -- ending a two-month-long defection saga.
Noris Peña Martínez, 25, and Leonel Córdova Rodríguez, 31, are scheduled to leave Stockholm today -- with layovers in Zurich, Switzerland, and New York City -- before arriving at Miami International Airport around 10:30 p.m.
For relatives and friends of the defectors, their arrival marks a long-awaited reunion -- and a chance for a new beginning.
In recent telephone interviews, the two have outlined their first order of business: to find jobs and begin studying.
Peña, a dentist, and Córdova, a physician, hope to find work as assistants in their respective fields while they start the lengthy process of having their degrees revalidated in the United States.
Ninoska Pérez Castellón, a spokeswoman for the Cuban American National Foundation, said the exile group would help the two medical workers through its broad network of contacts.
"This community has always shown that we extend our hands to those arriving,'' she said. "I think that characterizes this community.''
VISIT TO CONGRESS
She said the foundation hopes to fly the two to Washington soon so they can testify before Congress about their ordeal and conditions in Cuba.
Meantime, the foundation and U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, have contacted medical associations to try to help the two find jobs as soon as possible.
Among the well-wishers expected to gather at Miami International Airport this evening will be Mina Fernández, a second cousin of Peña's who organized a local lobbying effort on behalf of the two medical workers from her Coral Gables bridal shop.
"The entire family is so happy that they are finally arriving on free ground,'' said Fernández. "They went through so much.''
Emilio de-Quesada, 45, a former University of Havana medical professor who will be housing Córdova at his Kendall home, said he will help guide his former pupil through his adjustment to American life.
"He doesn't have the slightest idea what life is like here,'' de-Quesada said.
"Everyone passes through a period of adaptation.''
Although not dissidents while in Cuba, Peña and Córdova have said their ordeal in Zimbabwe emboldened them with a new-found political activism that they hope to build on in Miami.
The two were roused from their beds by armed Zimbabwean soldiers in May, just days after they approached the Canadian High Commission and the U.S. Embassy in Harare to request political asylum.
CLOSE CALL
Then they were flown to Johannesburg, South Africa, where they were nearly forced to board an Air France flight to Paris with a connection to Havana. But the plane's captain refused to fly the pair after they passed a handwritten note to a crew member claiming they were victims of a kidnapping.
The medical workers were then returned to Zimbabwe where authorities for several days denied knowledge of their whereabouts.
JAIL, THEN FREEDOM
After being shuffled among different jails for 32 days, the pair was released and flown to Stockholm, Sweden, on July 8, where they were admitted on a two-month humanitarian visa.
The case generated strong support among Cuban exiles in Miami, who saw their plight as a poignant counter-point to international pressure over returning Elián González to Cuba.
"It's gratifying when things have a happy ending,'' said Rudy Fernández, a staff member for Ros-Lehtinen, who spearheaded efforts in Washington to have the two medical workers admitted to the United States.
"In the bigger scheme, even professionals like Leonel and Noris, that Castro sends out to represent the regime, they try to defect the first chance that they get,'' Fernández said.
Posted at 9:28 a.m. EDT Saturday, August 5, 2000
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