World

Cuban Seeks Asylum

May 4, 1999 / 1:15 PM EDT / AP

A Cuban baseball coach has requested asylum in the United States, and six other members of the delegation that visited for a rematch against the Orioles missed the flight home.

The six who missed their Tuesday flight did so accidentally and may return to Cuba without U.S. intervention, the Justice Department said.

But in Washington, a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the government was making arrangements to talk to the six to learn whether they really do want to return.

Rigoberto Herrera requested asylum at police headquarters Tuesday morning 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 the custody of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

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 or say if the agency had been contacted by the six who missed the flight.

Ben Ferro, the INS's Maryland district director, said other Cubans may be missing from the delegation, but offered no details. "There may be others out there, and we are making ourselves...continuously available," he said in Wednesday's edition of The Sun, a Baltimore newspaper.

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.