Cuban Captured at Bay of Pigs Released; 1 Left

A prominent opponent of Cuban President Fidel Castro, imprisoned for his part in the Bay of Pigs invasion 25 years ago, was reunited with his family Sunday after being released by Castro and flown to Florida.

“Sometimes there aren’t words to express how one feels,” Ricardo Montero Duque said after an emotional greeting from his family at Homestead Air Force Base. “I’m very grateful to the people and the government of the United States. I’m very happy to be here.”

Montero, 60, freed five years before the end of his sentence, was met by his 80-year-old mother, Bernardina Duque de Montero of Miami, and two brothers, also of Miami.

Montero’s wife, Ester, was ill and under a doctor’s orders not to travel from her home in Union City, N.J., to greet her husband.

‘Like Romeo and Juliet’

“She has always been waiting for him,” said Montero’s mother. “They’ve lived like Romeo and Juliet.”

Montero appeared healthy and in good spirits. Speaking mostly in Spanish, he vowed “to continue to fight communism and Castro.”

Montero, who had been told Thursday that he was being freed, was released early Sunday morning from the Combinado del Este prison, where he had been held for 25 years. He arrived at the air base south of Miami five hours later.

He said he did not know the reason for his release, which leaves one Bay of Pigs veteran imprisoned in Cuba.

Montero reportedly was held because he had been a major in dictator Fulgencio Batista’s army. He also was not released earlier because he reportedly refused to sign a confession and would not wear a prisoner’s uniform.

Immediately after the reunion, Montero called U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who on Wednesday sent his foreign policy adviser, Gregory Craig, to Havana to escort Montero to the United States.

Montero thanked Kennedy, who was vacationing at the family’s retreat in Hyannisport, Mass., for his efforts.

“I want to welcome you to freedom,” Kennedy told Montero. “I am glad you could spend this day with your family.

“I want you to know that we shall continue all efforts to attain the release of all political prisoners as well as the last Bay of Pigs prisoner,” Kennedy told Montero, according to Kennedy spokesman Bob Mann.

“I greatly admire your personal courage,” Kennedy told him. “I hope to see you in Washington very soon, hopefully this week.”

Montero’s family had sought the help of government officials over the years to help secure his release, including writing numerous letters to Kennedy’s office dating back to 1966, said a Kennedy aide from Washington who asked that his name not be used.

Kennedy helped to arrange the release of about 30 other prisoners over the last 20 years, but no word came from Cuba on Montero’s status until last week when the Cuban Interests Section in Washington (Cuba and the United States do not have formal diplomatic relations) notified Kennedy of Montero’s impending release, the aide said.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Bruce Ammerman said the government welcomed the release of Montero, who has “been severely persecuted in Cuba. We were pleased to grant him entry into the United States on an expeditious basis so that he may be reunited with his family.” He said Vice President George Bush and other U.S. officials also made special appeals for Montero’s release.

Two Letters to Castro

Kennedy, whose brother John F. Kennedy as President had ordered the Bay of Pigs invasion, wrote two letters to Castro in 1985 pressing for Montero’s release. Cuban officials sent word several days ago that they were prepared to free him, Kennedy aides said. He was believed to be one of two Bay of Pigs prisoners still being held, the other being Ramon Conde Hernandez, who led an anti-Communist political group in pre-Castro Cuba. Kennedy has also sought his release.

Montero, reported to be one of six battalion commanders for the 1,400-member rebel force that failed in its April 17, 1961, invasion of the island, was sentenced to a 30-year term in September, 1961.

He was among nine of about 1,200 CIA-trained Cuban exiles whom Castro took prisoner and would not release. The rest of the 1,200 were released 22 months later in exchange for $53 million in food and medical supplies.

Of the other eight, one died in prison and six were later freed, leaving Conde.