THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 2, 1994 TAG: 9409020632
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF & WIRE REPORT
DATELINE: UNITED NATIONS LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
U.S. and Cuban negotiators met for six hours Thursday in their first face-to-face talks in nine months amid indications that Cuba was seriously weighing Clinton administration proposals to resolve the refugee crisis.
The talks, which administration officials said went well, were held as 1,484 more Cubans were picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard in the waters off Cuba as of 6 p.m., bringing the total to more than 20,000 since early August.
The talks will resume today, this time at the Cuban mission.
U.S. and Cuban officials said that the Cubans sought to use the talks to call for elimination of Havana's biggest grievance with the United States, the trade embargo, while the Americans insisted on talking about immigration matters only.
With a U.S. invasion of Haiti appearing increasingly likely, and the refugee exodus from Cuba continuing, the Navy announced plans to move two ships from its Pacific fleet into the Caribbean.
The Lewis B. Puller, a frigate, and the Truxtun, a cruiser, should arrive in the Caribbean next week to join in anti-drug patrols, said Lt. Cmdr. Ken Ross, a Navy spokesman. They could be given other tasks as well, he said.
A U.S. Coast Guard cutter was approached by two Cuban gunboats as it rescued would-be refugees just outside Cuba's territorial waters. The gunboats approached the cutter Monhegan from behind and came within 200 yards of either side.
The incident occurred in international waters, about 14 1/2 miles off the Cuban coast. International law prohibits U.S. boats from entering Cuban waters within 12 miles of shore.
More than 20 ships are involved in enforcing an economic embargo on Haiti, intercepting and transporting Cuban refugees and tracking drug smugglers bound from South America to the United States.
Ross said the unusual decision to involve Pacific forces in an operation east of the Panama Canal ``shows interfleet flexibility'' rather than reflecting any shortage of ships.
Ross said there is a precedent for shifting forces from one ocean to another. Early this year, two other Pacific fleet cruisers sailed through the canal to take part in anti-drug operations in the Caribbean, he said. MEMO: Staff writer Dale Eisman contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
STAFF
THE DIRECT ROUTE TO GUANTANAMO
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
KEYWORDS: CUBA REFUGEES by CNB