Published Friday, July 21, 2000, in the Miami Herald
Cuban ball player freed to pursue
career in U.S.
BY ANDRES VIGLUCCI AND TERE FIGUERAS
aviglucci@herald.com
After two days of questioning by federal
anti-smuggling investigators, Cuban
baseball standout Andy Morales was set
free by immigration authorities to pursue his
dream of playing in the Major Leagues.
Morales and his eight traveling companions,
who were dropped off by smugglers
Tuesday on the Marquesas islands off Key
West, were bused out of the Krome
immigration detention center in the late
afternoon Thursday to an exuberant reunion
amid hugs and high-fives with friends and
relatives in Little Havana.
Accounts that Morales and the others gave investigators of their arrival,
meanwhile, suggest that smugglers who allegedly charged them $5,000 each
for the trip left the group in a precarious spot.
The Border Patrol said the nine apparently spent more than 30 hours on an
uninhabited island in the Marquesas with only a gallon of water and virtually no
food.
In a sign of the interest that Morales' arrival has drawn in baseball circles, the
athlete's agent fielded calls from three Major League teams during the
half-hour drive from Krome to a round of health screenings and routine
processing in Little Havana.
``They wanted to know if it was true he was out, and they expressed an
interest,'' agent Gus Dominguez said.
He declined to identify the teams.
When the 25-year-old Morales emerged from the white Immigration and
Naturalization Service van outside a state clinic, he made the sign of the cross,
kissed his fingers and pointed to the sky. He then bent down and pressed his
hands against the asphalt of the parking lot.
Six weeks ago, Morales' first attempt to defect ended in repatriation by the
Coast Guard.
Until they got their first glimpse of Morales as a free man, friends and relatives
had feared the government would try again to send him back, in spite of
assurances from the INS that he would be processed and released because he
had reached dry land on the second try.
``It wasn't until that moment that I realized he was safe -- that it was all over,''
said Morales' childhood friend Justo Pozo.
Morales, looking tired but happy, made only a brief statement upon leaving the
clinic an hour and a half later.
``I'm very happy to have arrived in the United States,'' he said. ``You'll have to
forgive me. This is the most tense and nervous I've been in my entire life.''
Morales, who was accompanied in the voyage by his brother-in-law, will live
with his father-in-law, Carlos Castillo, in west Miami-Dade County.
``I'm so very proud. I finally have my sons here -- my two sons,'' Castillo said.
A hard-hitting former member of Cuba's powerful national team, the
25-year-old Morales starred in the squad's 12-6 defeat of the Orioles in
Baltimore last year. But he was dropped from the team after he was spotted
speaking to Dominguez in Baltimore.
QUIT LOCAL TEAM
Although Cuban authorities allowed Morales to rejoin his old local team, he
soon quit. His father in Cuba said Morales was depressed, in part because he
was followed constantly by state security agents.
It's unknown how he eluded them. But the Border Patrol is certain that
Morales and his companions were smuggled into Florida and has launched an
investigation. Joseph Mellia, an assistant Border Patrol chief, said several
passengers admitted paying smugglers $5,000 each to bring them from Cuba
on a speedboat.
``We have the people talking, they're giving some information. We got some
leads, and we're following up on them,'' Mellia said.
According to the Cubans, Mellia said, the group left from the coast west of
Havana around midnight Sunday and arrived in the Marquesas, which are U.S.
soil, around dawn Monday.
``They were told, `When you see a passing boat, just wave.' That is what they
told us. Sometimes they're truthful, sometimes not,'' Mellia said.
LANDING REPORTED
The nine Cubans, all adult men except for one minor female, were picked up
by the Coast Guard on Tuesday after someone -- it's unclear who -- called to
report migrants on the island.
One member of the group, however, disputed the Border Patrol's account.
Alberto Gutiérrez, 26, said they left from Varadero, Cuba, around 6 p.m.
Sunday, arriving at the Marquesas three hours later.
He also insisted: ``We didn't pay any money to anybody.''
The Border Patrol interrogation, which a government source characterized as
extensive, accounted for the unusually long delay in Morales' release.
Agents are also conducting an investigation into Morales' previous attempt to
reach Florida, and two Hialeah men remain in INS custody as the suspected
smugglers. Mellia said the passengers are not the target and will not be
criminally charged.
Dominguez, the sports agent, said he regards Morales as a surefire Major
League prospect. But he said he had not discussed plans with his client, who
has several options. If he establishes residency in the United States, Morales
would be subject under Major League rules to an amateur draft in 2001,
which means he could negotiate only with the team that selects him.
RESIDENCY OPTION
He could also, as other Cuban defectors have done, establish residency in a
foreign country. In that case, he would be free to negotiate with any interested
teams and could eventually sign a more lucrative contract.
Dominguez declined to discuss the Cuban government's treatment of Morales,
noting that his wife and infant son -- who have received U.S. immigrant visas
and are awaiting Cuban authorization to leave -- remained behind. |
