THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 2, 1995 TAG: 9502020368
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
A dejected group of Cuban refugees returned Wednesday to the American naval base at Guantanamo Bay, reluctant prisoners of a foreign power on the same island they risked their lives to flee.
``We see ourselves as political pawns,'' said Alberto Lujardo, 33, after he got off the plane that brought him from Panama. ``We have been betrayed by the United States and by the communist government from which we fled.''
A couple hours earlier, the U.S. military had tried to create a festive atmosphere for the Cubans being forced aboard the chartered Boeing 727 by soldiers armed with wooden batons.
A colorful sign wished them good luck in Spanish. Loudspeakers pumped out salsa music by Gloria Estefan, who was born in Cuba but left with her parents after the Communists took over.
Five hundred refugees were to be sent to Guantanamo by the end of Wednesday and each following day until all are moved - 7,500 total. They are among the tens of thousands picked up at sea during the boat people exodus last summer.
Overwhelmed by the number of Cubans taking to the sea after Fidel Castro's forces stopped blocking them, President Clinton reversed long-standing U.S. policy of accepting all Cuban migrants. Instead, the boat people were sent to tent camps at Guantanamo or in Panama, which agreed to allow the Cubans to stay only through March 6.
The policy change was a bitter blow to the migrants, and anger festered in the Panama camps. Riots erupted in December.
About 240 Cubans identified as troublemakers from the riots are to be returned to Guantanamo in shackles, but were not scheduled for the Wednesday flights. Even though the passengers Wednesday were relatively docile, there was about one soldier on the plane for every two Cubans, armed with stun guns and tear gas.
Many of the returnees say conditions are poor at Guantanamo, which is American soil and held 20,402 Cubans as of Tuesday. But Marine Gen. Raymond Ayres said facilities have improved substantially since September, when they were sent to Panama. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Troops of the 101st Airborne Division, based at Fort Campbell, Ky.,
stand guard as Cuban refugees are escorted to a charter plane
Wednesday at Howard Air Force Base near Panama City, Panama. The
sign wishes them ``Good Luck'' on their return to Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba.
KEYWORDS: REFUGEES by CNB