MIAMI (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday it had repatriated 12 Cubans whom it had plucked from a wooden boat southeast of Miami as they attempted to reach the United States.
Two others, a husband and wife, taken from the 15-foot boat intercepted on Saturday 19 miles from Miami Beach were brought to a Miami hospital because the woman was pregnant and experiencing labor pains.
A third was being taken to the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba for further screening by U.S. officials.
Immigration officers interview Cubans picked up at sea and send to Guantanamo those who make what are considered credible claims for asylum, a spokesman at the Immigration and Naturalization Service in Washington said.
The Coast Guard said it had rescued or assisted 363 Cubans this year.
A spokesman said the agency did not keep records of how many of those were repatriated, but Coast Guard officials have said previously that most Cubans picked up this year have been returned.
15:54 11-04-97