Yahoo! January 8, 2001
Cuban Refugees Arrive in Costa Rica
By Marianela Jimenez, Associated Press Writer
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) - A boat packed with 22 Cubans seeking political
asylum in Costa Rica has arrived at the Central American nation, the first to
come here from the communist country in four years.
Officials said the group - between the ages of 14 and 60 - came ashore late
Saturday on a stretch of Caribbean coast near Limon, 80 miles east of San Jose,
the capital. Police discovered the refugees on Sunday.
Immigration officials were to interview the 17 men and five women formally
on Monday. Carlos Alvarado, a Costa Rican foreign relations adviser, talked
briefly with the group on Sunday and said it was made up of a family and several
friends.
Cuba sent a note to Costa Rica claiming the fishing boat belonged to the
government and had been stolen, Costa Rican Security Minister Rogelio Ramos
said. The boat has a capacity of 15 people.
It left Cuba on Dec. 29, stopping at the island of San Andres to refuel and
then traveling on to Costa Rica.
On Sunday, all of the Cubans were given food and medical treatment.
The last time Costa Rica received a boat carrying Cuban refugees was in
1996. In that case, the government agreed to give the refugees visas.
Cuba's communist government says the vast majority of Cubans who leave the
country illegally by boat are economic migrants rather than political refugees,
no different from the thousands of Mexicans and Central Americans who cross the
U.S. border illegally in search of work.
Raul Castro To U.S.: Normalize Ties
By Vivian Sequera, Associated Press Writer
HAVANA, 5 (AP) - The United States should normalize relations with Cuba
while Fidel Castro (news - web sites) is still alive, his brother and designated
successor said, because it will get "more difficult'' later on.
Gen. Raul Castro, Cuba's defense minister, did not elaborate during the
interview on state television about why negotiations could get harder. However,
Raul is generally considered more of a hard-liner than his older brother.
"It would be in imperialism's interest to try, with our irreconcilable
differences, to normalize relations as much as possible during Fidel's life,''
he said in the interview, which was shown late Thursday night.
Fidel Castro, 74, has repeatedly referred to the 69-year-old Raul as his
successor, and Raul Castro is first in the constitutional line of succession as
second secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba and first vice president of both
the governing Council of State and Council of Ministers.
Raul's comments were aired one day after the 40th anniversary of the break
in U.S.-Cuba diplomatic relations.
President Dwight Eisenhower broke the ties on Jan. 3, 1961, saying Fidel
Castro had provoked him once too often.
Washington maintains that a political opening in Cuba's one-party system and
free and competitive elections are necessary before diplomatic relations can be
resumed.
While lower level Cuban officials rarely dare talk of the deaths of the
Castro brothers, both Castros have indicated they think of it.
"After I die I do not want my name on a street, much less on a
monument, or a factory or a farm or anything,'' Raul Castro said in the
interview. The only homage he and his brother want "is that the revolution
be maintained.''
Lawyer: INS Told To Conceal Papers
MIAMI, 6 (AP) - An attorney for Immigration and Naturalization Service
employees said in a deposition that his clients were told to destroy or conceal
documents that contained "anything derogatory'' about the Elian Gonzalez
case.
Donald Appignani made the statement while testifying for a federal lawsuit
filed by Elian's Miami relatives against the INS and Attorney General Janet Reno
(news - web sites) claiming the April 22 armed raid that removed the boy from
their home violated their constitutional rights.
In his deposition, Appignani said Miami INS workers had told him the U.S.
government could be breaking the law by ordering evidence destruction, the South
Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Saturday.
Appignani declined to disclose which employees told him of the orders, who
gave the instructions and what information the documents and electronic mail
contained. He said in an interview with the Fort Lauderdale-based newspaper that
he didn't hear the alleged orders and doesn't know whether the allegations were
true.
"Basically this is what I heard,'' Appignani testified. "People
were instructed to remove anything derogatory to the Elian Gonzalez case.''
Appignani also testified that INS employees thought there was an atmosphere
of contempt at the agency's Miami office toward Cuban Americans.
"That type of statement is ridiculous,'' said John Sheairy, chief of
staff for district director Robert Wallis. "The men and women for the Miami
district are professionals.''
INS spokeswoman Patricia Mancha said Saturday she could not comment on the
accusations because the case was pending.
Appignani said he approached Ronald Guralnick, the attorney for the family
of Lazaro Gonzalez, Elian's great-uncle, about the information in November at
the request of his clients. Guralnick has asked a federal judge to force
Appignani to disclose the information, and the U.S. Attorney's Office has said
it would support the motion.
"This is a major break in the case,'' Guralnick said. "I'm looking
forward to the court's ruling ... and I'm looking forward to talking to
(Appignani's) clients.''
The Gonzalez lawsuit claims Reno and the INS used false statements to obtain
arrest and search warrants used in the pre-dawn raid that seized Elian, then 6,
and reunited him with his father, who took him back to Cuba.
Elian had been in the care of the Miami relatives since he was rescued on
Thanksgiving Day 1999 clinging to an innertube off Fort Lauderdale. His mother
and 10 others died when the boat smuggling them from Cuba to Florida sank.
The lawsuit unspecified damages.
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