HAVANA, May 31 (Reuters) - Cuban authorities on Sunday tightened security around the Nicaraguan embassy in Havana in an apparent bid to ward off any would-be Cuban asylum seekers who might try to enter the diplomatic mission.
The move followed an announcement by Cuba on Saturday which said that 200 illegal Cuban emigrants recently deported back to the communist-ruled island by the Bahamas would not be allowed to accept an offer by Nicaragua to give them entry visas.
Scorning the public offer by right-wing Nicaraguan president Arnoldo Aleman to take the 200 Cubans, the Cuban government communique sarcastically suggested Nicaragua might like to admit any other Cuban citizens who might wish to emigrate to the Central American state.
It stressed that would-be emigrants should apply through legal means, which did not include seeking asylum by illegally entering the Nicaraguan embassy in Havana.
In addition to a reinforced presence of uniformed policemen, groups of men dressed in plain clothes were posted on either side of the two entrances to the road in Havana's Miramar district where the Nicaraguan mission is situated.
Since the street appeared otherwise practically deserted, these men appeared to be either plain-clothes security police or pro-government militants deployed to prevent any illegal attempts to enter the Nicaraguan embassy.
Branches cut from trees on either side of the mission were stacked up on the pavement in front of it, apparently to make it more difficult to enter or see the embassy from outside.
These extra security measures followed a clear warning in the Cuban government's statement on Saturday which had said the Nicaraguan embassy in Havana ``must not be bothered and will not be allowed to be bothered in any way.''
From the statement, it was clear Havana had been angered by Nicaragua's offer to take the repatriated would-be Cuban emigrants, who included three baseball players and a coach.
Bahamas, citing a bilateral immigration accord it has with Havana, had sent them back to Cuba in two separate groups over the last two weeks. They had originally fled their island homeland illegally by sea, using flimsy boats.
The terse Cuban response to Aleman's offer added further strain to bilateral ties already soured by the Nicaraguan president's frequent public criticism in the past of Cuba's one-party communist system.
17:07 05-31-98
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