Word: cubans
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...reception, where Soviet wine, roasted piglets and hot and cold lobster were served. It was after midnight when the press conference finally began, and there was no bombshell. Instead, Jackson _read off a list of the points on which Castro had agreed, few of which were really new. The Cuban leader, Jackson said, was willing to exchange ambassadors with the U.S. and to start talks soon on whether he would take back any of the Cuban criminals who had come to the U.S. in the boat exodus from Mariel in 1980. Most notably, he would release 22 Americans held...
Jackson plunged on. In an emotional visit to a Cuban jail with the soon-to-be-freed American prisoners, he was tearfully embraced by some of the men. Aware of the criminal records of some, Jackson declared, "We do not come casting judgment about why you are here. You are Americans and you are ours, and we're going to take you home...
...Jackson did deliver a bombshell of sorts as his plane was preparing to leave Havana Wednesday afternoon for a quick flight to Managua. Jackson told reporters that Castro had agreed to free 26 Cuban political prisoners from a list of about 50 that Jackson had brought with him. Castro also told Jackson that he could pick up all 48 of the released men the next day and take them to Washington. As the plane took off, a stewardess noted a fitting coincidence. Said she: "There's a rainbow on the left side of the plane...
...crowds chanted, "Jesse! Jesse!", Jack son chatted amiably at the airport with Castro. The Cuban gave Jackson a cigar, which the minister, who does not smoke, tried to puff from the wrong end. Castro said that he was releasing the prisoners "as a gesture to Jackson and to the American people...
Most of the Americans had spent one to four years in jail, charged by Havana authorities with drug trafficking; typically, they became Castro's prisoners by accident, after equipment failures on boats or airplanes brought them into Cuban waters. In contrast, most of the Cuban nationals had been jailed for more than 20 years; some were kept in prison without explanation for months or years after their promised release dates. The political prisoners called themselves plantados, those planted firmly in opposition to Castro...