U.S., Cuba Agree to Revive Immigration Agreement

The United States and Cuba have revived an agreement to allow the repatriation of more than 2,500 Cubans who came to this country illegally aboard the 1980 Mariel boat lift, the State Department said Friday.

As part of the agreement, department spokesman Charles Redman said more than 20,000 Cubans in several different categories will be allowed to immigrate to the United States annually. Another official estimated the yearly immigration flow at 27,000.

The two countries had signed a wide-ranging immigration agreement in December, 1984, but Cuba suspended it after five months. The suspension was based on the establishment of Radio Marti, a Voice of America broadcast operation beamed to Cuba.

Cuba agreed to reinstate the suspended agreement during unannounced talks last week in Mexico City between State Department deputy legal adviser Michael Kozak and Cuban Vice Foreign Minister Ricardo Alarcon.

Redman said the revival of the agreement will benefit thousands of persons in the United States and Cuba, but he suggested that it will have minimal impact on the overall relationship between the two countries.

He said the United States “continues to have serious concern about Cuba’s international behavior.”

Another official, insisting on anonymity, said Cuba requested the Mexico City talks. He speculated that Cuba’s interest in reviving the 1984 agreement may have been based on a desire to reduce the country’s “surplus population” at a time when the island is undergoing economic difficulties.

The official added that there may have been a link between Cuba’s interest in reviving the agreement and the signs of reduced U.S.-Soviet hostility, symbolized by the pending visit of Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev. The official suggested that Cuba may be interested in being in step with the favorable trend in superpower relations.

Announcement Praised

Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez praised the announcement, saying an orderly immigration process reduces the chance of another Mariel boat lift.

In July, 1986, Washington and Havana unsuccessfully attempted to reinstate the 1984 agreement 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.

That issue was discussed at the Mexico City talks last week, and Redman said the talks will continue. The two countries are attempting to agree on ground rules governing broadcasts from one country to another. One problem stems from technical interference due to congested airwaves between Florida and Cuba.

Sore Point in Relations

The Mariel boat lift issue has been a sore point in U.S.-Cuban relations for years. More than 125,000 Cuban refugees 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 non-political crimes.

During the five-month period in late 1984 and early 1985 when the immigration agreement was in effect, 201 Cubans were returned to the island, leaving 2,545 still subject to repatriation, according to Redman.

Of these, about 1,400 are confined to the federal penitentiary in Atlanta and another 900 to 1,000 are in a holding area in Oakdale, La. The remainder are scattered in more than 60 jails across the country.

Redman gave no timetable for the return of the Mariel exiles, saying only that their repatriation would be carried out in a “phased and orderly” way.

Approved for Release

Gary Leshaw, a legal aid attorney who specializes in the Cubans’ case, says about 570 “excludables” have been approved for release into society.

“I don’t know what is going to happen to them,” he said. “A lot of these guys have families who are American citizens.”

Redman said 20,000 Cubans would be allowed entry to the United States under a normal immigration quota.