The United States has issued an emergency visa to the mother of Marlins pitcher Livan Hernandez so she can travel to the United States for the World Series, but it was not certain Saturday when -- or if -- she would be able to make the trip.

Reached at her home in Havana as Game 1 of the World Series was under way, Miriam Carreras declined to confirm that she had received the visa.

``There are plans [to travel], but there's still really nothing concrete,'' she said.

She begged off making further comments.

``I'm here listening to the game on the radio, so I can't talk much now,'' she said. ``I would love to be there to see him. I hope I can be soon.''

A U.S. official in Havana said Carreras turned up at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana at
about 4 p.m. Friday and was immediately issued a U.S. visa ``because of the importance of the event.''

The effort to arrange for a U.S. visa for Carreras was initiated Tuesday by the office of Gov. Lawton Chiles, according to Florida officials. U.S. State Department officials reviewed Chiles' request, then told the U.S. Interests Section in Havana to grant the visa.

Carreras had requested a visa once before but was rejected, the U.S. official in Havana added, without going into further details.

The official in Havana said Washington's interest in getting Hernandez's mother a visa was so strong that Interests Section officials had been searching for her for more than a day, with no success. But she happened to come in on her own.

The Cuban government faces a dilemma, both in dealing with any travel request from Hernandez's mother and in how to deal with Hernandez's emergence as a star player for the Marlins.

Accomplishments ignored

Hernandez's defection two years ago was a major embarrassment. State radio and television, and the government-controlled press have ignored his postseason pitching and the fact that he was voted Most Valuable Player in the National League Championship Series after accounting for two of the Marlins' four victories over the Braves.

Hernandez's half-brother, Orlando ``El Duque'' Hernandez, considered Cuba's best baseball pitcher, was kicked off the national team and suspended from Cuban baseball for life last year after Havana authorities accused him of meeting with a cousin of Joe Cubas, the Miami-based Cuban-American sports agent who arranged Livan Hernandez's defection and negotiated his four-year, $4.5 million contract with the Marlins.

Cubas' cousin was later arrested and is now serving a 15-year prison term in Cuba for ``assisting illegal departure.''

Even in the best of cases -- and without the controversy surrounding her son -- Carreras normally would need several weeks of running around Havana to obtain the documents that Cuba requires for its citizens to leave the island.

Battling the bureaucracy

Only after a Cuban obtains a foreign visa will the Cuban Immigration Department even consider a request for permission to leave, said a travel agent well versed in Cuba's bureaucracy.

How long does that take? ``As long as the government wants it to take,'' the agent said.

And only with foreign visa and exit permit in hand can a Cuban go to the Cubatour travel agency offices in Havana to buy a ticket on a flight out of the country, the agent said.

The Cubatour offices in Havana close at 4:30 p.m. on Fridays and are not open on weekends.

``If she's coming,'' said the travel agent, ``Livan's mother is more likely to get here for the World Series victory celebration next week.''

Copyright © 1997 The Miami Herald