Six Cubans who missed flight leave

Six Cubans who missed a flight carrying the Cuban baseball team back to Havana left for home this morning after assuring U.S. immigration officials their return was voluntary.

Don Mueller, a spokesman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, said no Cuban diplomats were present when the interviews took place.

“All assured the INS that their return to Cuba was voluntary,” he said. When the chartered aircraft carrying the delegation from Baltimore took off at dawn Tuesday, the six were missing because they overslept. None was a team member.

Another member of the Cuban delegation, Rigoberto Herrera, requested asylum at police headquarters in Baltimore about 10 hours after the Cubans beat the Orioles 12-6.

Through an interpreter, a lieutenant on duty “understood he was requesting asylum and immediately notified INS officials,” said police spokesman Robert Weinhold. Herrera is now in INS custody.

Rep. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., a foe of Fidel Castro’s regime, said the man’s full name is Rigoberto Herrera Betancourt.

Menendez also said two other Cubans may have asked for asylum but Justice Department officials said they were not aware of any such request.

The INS would not comment on possible defections.

The official Cuban government list of the delegation that traveled to Baltimore included Rigoberto Betancourt. The government news agency said he was a 54-year-old retired pitcher.

He played Cuban baseball between 1965 and 1975 and was known for an excellent curve ball. Three times he was part of the national team and was known as “el Pequeno Gigante del Box,” or the “Little Big Man in the Box.”

Cuban officials denied that any members of the delegation had defected but said six Cubans had overslept and missed the plane.

“We have no defectors,” said the spokesman for the Cuban diplomatic mission in Washington, Luis Fernandez.

More than 300 Cubans were part of the delegation that attended Monday night’s game. Besides players, the delegation included journalists, retired ballplayers, ordinary citizens, members of youth groups and outstanding students.

During a long speech welcoming the players in Havana, Castro criticized defections in general but said nothing about anyone staying behind.

The game was a rematch after the Orioles defeated the Cubans in Havana 3-2 on March 28. The Orioles became the first major league team in 40 years to play in Cuba. Associated Press