THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 13, 1995 TAG: 9501130495
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
American ships and planes will begin early in February to shuttle 8,000 unhappy Cuban refugees from tent cities in Panama to similar quarters at the U.S. Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Pentagon said Thursday.
Three Norfolk-based amphibious ships, the Portland, the Austin and the LaMoure County, will participate in the operation, along with about five 727 jetliners, converted for use by the military. In addition to the Navy ships' crews, almost 3,000 Army and Marine troops will be involved.
The Clinton administration already is spending about $20 million per month to house and care for more than 21,000 Cubans at Guantanamo. Army Maj. Rick Thomas, a base spokesman, said about 3,400 of those have been identified as eligible for release to the United States and more are being processed.
American policy permits immigration by minors and their parents, but they must have sponsors in the United States. The administration is prepared to keep indefinitely those who don't qualify at Guantanamo, Pentagon spokesman Dennis Boxx said.
The base, normally a training center for the Navy's Atlantic Fleet, was converted to a refugee center last summer as Navy and Coast Guard ships intercepted about 30,000 Cubans trying to sail to freedom across the strait between their island and Florida.
The Cubans soon to be moved from Panama were part of that group. They spent several weeks at Guantanamo after being picked up at sea, then agreed to go to camps in Panama when the Guantanamo camps became overcrowded.
But the Panamanian government promised to keep them for only six months. After some refugees rioted to protest camp conditions and the administration's refusal to let them come to America, Panama insisted it would not extend the March 6 deadline.
A senior defense official who briefed reporters Thursday on the transfer plan suggested most of the migrants will be moved to Guantanamo by air, a two-hour flight. But up to 600 who've been judged security risks may make the trip on the three ships. Sailing time from Panama to Guantanamo is between two and three days, the official said.
The official said few Cubans in Panama or at Guantanamo have indicated an interest in accepting the administration's offer to return to Havana. by CNB