Coast Guard Rescues Armed Cuban Exiles

A U.S. Coast Guard vessel entered Cuban waters to rescue from a leaking boat four men who turned out to be armed anti-Castro militants, but officials insisted Monday that it was a normal rescue operation.

The exile boat was reported to have exchanged gunfire with a Cuban vessel while trying to flee the island. The FBI is investigating to determine if those on board violated the U.S. Neutrality Act.

The Coast Guard said rescuers were unaware of the gunfire or even who was aboard the boat Saturday when they penetrated five miles inside the 12-mile Cuban territorial limit recognized by the United States.

“We always respond to a ‘Mayday,’ ” said Lt. Jim Howe, a Coast Guard spokesman.

Cuban authorities were notified by telex that the Coast Guard cutter Maui was entering Cuban waters a few miles off Puerto Matanzas on the north coast, he said.

The 25-foot exile boat was piloted by former Black Panther member Tony Bryant, 54, who became strongly anti-communist during an 11-year prison term he spent in Cuba for hijacking a plane from the United States to Havana in 1969.

Also on board were Miami-based members of the exile group Commandos L. One of the exiles, Eugenio Llamera, 54, said they went to pick up two friends who were planning to flee Cuba on a raft, but they got lost.