WORLD : Cuban Defector Changes Mind
A Cuban who had sought and received political asylum in Spain with his wife, the prima ballerina of the Cuban National Ballet, has turned himself in to the Cuban Embassy in Madrid, embassy sources said today.
Alfredo Rodriguez, lighting designer for the ballet company, and his wife, Dagmar Moradillo, had asked for refuge in Madrid last week after a performance in Majorca.
The couple had planned to settle in Miami, where they have family.
Moradillo, who is going ahead with asylum procedures, reported her husband missing from their hotel Sunday.
The embassy sources said Rodriguez had changed his mind about defecting and would return to Cuba on a flight today.
Moradillo had complained that life in Cuba had become “unbearable” because of the political and economic situation.
Relations between Spain and Cuba are normally cordial but the two nations are currently in dispute over 18 Cubans sheltering at the Spanish embassy in Havana and seeking asylum.
Cuba refuses to let them out of the country and Spain has promised not to hand them over to Cuban authorities.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
