Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 3, 1995 TAG: 9505030069
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
In a sudden reversal, President Clinton agreed Tuesday to allow some 20,000 Cubans into the United States after months of detention at Guantanamo Bay. But he said any more Cubans who flee their country will be forcibly returned home.
Cuban-American leaders expressed delight that people detained at the U.S. naval base in Cuba would be permitted to migrate, but they complained bitterly that future refugees would be turned away.
Some Republicans accused Clinton of shutting the doors on a safe haven that for 35 years has beckoned Cubans fleeing Fidel Castro's communist state.
``It's a very lamentable decision,'' said Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who represents the Miami area.
``How sad it is that the United States is now viewed as an accomplice in Castro's repression of the Cuban people,'' said Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Answering Helms' charges on the Senate floor, Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., said Clinton's decision ``was a difficult one.'' While endorsing Clinton's policy, Graham said the return of future refugees to Cuba ``causes great concern to many people, including myself.''
There were indications of a rift in the administration over the new policy. Dennis Hays, the State Department's coordinator for Cuban affairs, and his deputy, Nancy Mason, asked to be reassigned in protest of the decision to repatriate fleeing Cubans, officials said.
Hays headed the U.S. delegation to three rounds of talks with Cuban officials on migration issues, most recently two weeks ago in New York. He is known as a strong supporter of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba and to have close ties to conservative Cuban-American lawmakers.
The decision to admit refugees from Guantanamo stemmed largely from fears of civil disturbances by Cubans frustrated by their captivity and angry about a policy that until now excluded them from the United States. U.S. officials say 20,916 Cubans are being held at Guantanamo.
Some 6,000 American troops are stationed at Guantanamo, and the administration said it was concerned about their safety.
Moreover, it has been costing the United States $1 million a day to guard the Cubans, and the administration was facing a $100 million bill to upgrade the camps.
The White House said that ``relatively few'' of the Cubans in Guantanamo would not qualify for admission to the United States; those deemed ineligible will be returned to Havana. The remainder gradually will be admitted to the United States under a policy that allows up to 20,000 legal entrants each year from Cuba.
by CNB