By David Royse, Associated
Press
The seven Cubans were scheduled to leave the Bahamas Wednesday for
Costa Rica.
Early Wednesday, agent Joe Cubas chartered a Lear jet for Hernandez,
catcher Alberto Hernandez and five others who left Cuba together to
take them to San Jose, Costa Rica, according to Cubas spokesman
Rene Guim.
"They are anticipating obtaining the release of the other five
detainees being held at the detention center sometime between 8 and
9 a.m.," Guim said. "After some formal documentation and
procedures by Bahamian authorities they will go to the airport and
get on a charter flight to head for freedom in Costa Rica."
On Tuesday, the governments of Costa Rica and Nicaragua offered
visas to pitcher Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez and catcher
Alberto Hernandez — who are not related — and five others who
helped the two players flee Cuba, according to Joe Cubas, an agent
representing the players.
The group landed in the Bahamas last week after leaving the
communist country on a sailboat. While both Hernandezes were
granted humanitarian visas by the United States, the other five
were placed in a detention center in the Bahamas, which has a
repatriation pact with Cuba.
But the two players refused to come to the United States, citing
their concerns for the other five. Orlando Hernandez's common-law
wife also was offered a U.S. visa and came to Miami during the
weekend. She was not offered a visa by either Central American
nation, Cubas said.
The two players were released from the detention camp when they
were offered visas by the United States, but Bahamian officials
said they had until today to leave the country or return to the
detention center.
"They had no status whatsoever outside the camp," Cubas said.
He said the entire group had sought asylum in the Bahamas or the
United States, but when it appeared neither was forthcoming, he
began negotiating with other countries.
Cubas said he secured the visas for Costa Rica, and that U.S.
Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, worked to get Nicaragua to allow
the seven to enter that country.
Cubas was still negotiating with Bahamian officials Tuesday
night to secure the release of the five people still remaining in
the camp. He said he didn't want to test the Bahamians' resolve to
put the players back in the camp if the deadline wasn't met.
"Hopefully we'll be on a plane by then," Cubas said Tuesday by
phone from the Bahamas.
"My main concern was the five that didn't have visas. They were
facing repatriation because of the agreement between the Bahamas
and Cuba," Diaz-Balart said.
Other U.S. politicians, most notably U.S. Sen. Robert
Torricelli, D-N.J., were trying to secure visas for the five
companions to come to the United States, but to no avail.
Cubas said the effort to find a third country to take the group
was a "race against time.
"I could sense the people around me were feeling the walls
starting to cave in due to the fact that we were on a deadline,"
he said. But now, "we all celebrate."
Immigration officials from the two central American nations
could not be reached for comment late Tuesday.
Cubas said that the Costa Rican visas were for an indefinite
amount of time, while the Nicaraguan visas were extended for 90
days.
Going to a third country could prove more lucrative. If the
players came to the United States, they would be subject to the
baseball draft and have to negotiate with one team. If they settle
in a third country, they can talk with several teams as free
agents.
"The only option they have is to go to another country," Cubas
said.