Cubans Hold U.S. Prison, Hostages for 4th Day

A truck carrying cement blocks rolled into a federal prison Saturday along with additional police cars, trucks and vans as a takeover by hostage-taking Cuban inmates entered its fourth day.

Warden Roger F. Scott of Talladega Federal Correctional Institution characterized conditions inside as calm, but dozens of cars, trucks, vans and a flatbed truck carrying the cement blocks rolled into the prison during the night. Two helicopters also landed.

Scott would not comment on the buildup other than to say the vehicles brought in relief personnel at the end of a 12-hour shift and that the helicopters were summoned for use if needed.

The warden told reporters that the rioters, who had called news media with threats that they would kill the hostages rather than return to Cuba, no longer had unrestricted use of phones. He said authorities also jammed the signal from a two-way radio that the jailed Cuban exiles were using.

All communication between the exiles and the outside world has now become a “bargaining point,” an official said.

Meanwhile, medical workers overnight visited six of the hostages and several inmates. The medical personnel found the hostages healthy during what Scott described as a routine visit to deliver medication.

Prison officials said there are 121 Cuban detainees and 18 non-Cuban inmates in the unit along with the 10 hostages. Thirty-two of the Cubans had been scheduled for deportation to their homeland Thursday for committing crimes in the United States.

The Miami Herald, quoting a U.S. Bureau of Prisons guard it did not identify, reported that the uprising began Wednesday when two Cuban inmates stripped a rookie guard of his keys at the end of an exercise period for prisoners.

The newspaper said one inmate exchanged clothes with the seized guard as rebelling prisoners opened doors and freed others in the unit, which is divided into two sections with five guards in each.