
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, August 6, 1993                   TAG: 9308060090
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: MIAMI                                LENGTH: Medium

U.S., CUBA WORK TOGETHER

In a rare instance of cooperation between the United States and Cuba, federal law enforcement officials are pursuing criminal charges against a pilot who commandeered a Cuban commuter flight last year and flew 52 passengers to freedom.

Crew members who had returned to Cuba were brought back to Miami this week to meet with federal prosecutors, according to lawyers for the pilot, Carlos Cancio Porcel. Lawyers said the Cuban witnesses were seen entering the federal courthouse Thursday to testify before a grand jury.

The government's decision to proceed with the case against Cancio comes amid several recent signs that Washington and Havana want to lessen the mutual hostility that has prevailed since Fidel Castro seized power 34 years ago. Since the Clinton administration took office, Castro has made repeated overtures to the United States, while Washington has made some modest proposals of its own.

Late last month, the State Department announced it would lift the limits on the number of telephone circuits between the United States and Cuba and allow Havana half the revenue from the toll calls. Since the start of an American embargo of Cuba more than 30 years ago, Cuba's share of the revenue, now more than $80 million, has been frozen in a bank account.

In addition, American and Cuban officials have acknowledged that the two countries have begun discussing an agreement that would normalize immigration and deportation procedures. An accord was reached in 1984, but Castro canceled it a year later to protest American radio broadcasts to Cuba.

The inquiry into Cancio has been approved by senior Justice Department officials in Washington, according to a person who has been briefed about the case.

"With all this talk of normalizing immigration and other signs of cooperation, we don't know whether Cancio has become a pawn in an international game that is much beyond his reach," said Jose Quinon, a lawyer for Cancio.

The government's decision to proceed with the case has enraged Cuban-Americans, many of whom risked their lives to flee Castro's Communist regime and consider Cancio a hero.

by CNB