Havana to Take Back 2,700 Marielitos U.S. Wants Out : In Return, New Agreement Calls for Nearly 27,000 Cubans a Year to Be Allowed to Emigrate Legally

The United States and Cuba have agreed that Cuba will repatriate more than 2,700 Cuban “undesirables” who emigrated to the United States in the 1980 Mariel boat lift and that the United States will allow nearly 27,000 Cubans to emigrate to the United States annually, the State Department said today.

Department spokesman Charles E. Redman said the agreement was worked out between U.S. and Cuban officials during an unannounced meeting this week in Mexico City.

The accord is similar to the one the two countries negotiated in December, 1984, but which was suspended by Cuba the following May in protest against Radio Marti, a Voice of America broadcast operation to Cuba.

Relations Upset

Since the 1984 agreement was suspended, the two countries have not had normal immigration ties, although the United States has allowed hundreds of long-term Cuban political prisoners to immigrate.

Under the accord, up to 20,000 Cubans with close relatives in the United States will be allowed to emigrate annually. An additional 3,000 Cubans with “immediate relatives” will be given similar permission. Also, an estimated 3,500 former political prisoners will be granted U.S. residence visas.

The Mariel boat lift issue has been a sore point in U.S.-Cuban relations for years. More than 125,000 Cubans came to the United States during the spring and summer of 1980. Of that total, 2,746 were deemed “excludable” under U.S. law because of mental illness or nonpolitical crimes committed in Cuba.

During the five-month period in late 1984 and early 1985 when Cuba had agreed to repatriate these Cubans, 201 returned to the island.

Agreement Hammered Out

The Mexico City agreement was worked out by the State Department deputy legal adviser, Michael Kozak, and Cuban Vice Foreign Minister Ricardo Alarcon, said the official, who demanded anonymity.

The two countries attempted to revive the 1984 immigration agreement in July, 1986, but the talks broke down in a dispute over radio broadcast rights.

At the time, the U.S. side rejected a Cuban proposal for several “clear channel” broadcast frequencies in the United States, claiming that it would have interfered with more than 100 U.S. radio stations.

In the Mexico City talks, no agreement was reached on broadcast rights, but the two sides agreed to continue discussions, the official said. He added that Radio Marti operations will not be affected by the new agreement.