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Havana office closed

NZPA Washington The United States has closed its Havana visa office after a brawl on Friday between pro-Castro Cubans and those seeking to leave the country. The State Department said 380 Cubans still inside the office had refused to leave for fear of what .might happen to them. A department spokeswoman, Anita Stockman, said the would-be immigrants would be fed and housed until the situation was resolved. The United States has said that the group that beat up the 400 would-be refugees outside, the visa office were officially encouraged. Cuban refugees are being shipped to Florida at the rate of 2000 a day and with calm seas predicted for the next few days the influx is likely to increase, United States Customs and Coast Guard offi* cials have said. Cuban authorities at the port of Mariel, near Havana, lifted restrictions on Sunday (local time) and by midday (local time) the Coast Guard had spotted a record 257 boats heading for Key West.

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19800506.2.69

Bibliographic details

Press, 6 May 1980, Page 8

Word Count
165

Havana office closed Press, 6 May 1980, Page 8

Havana office closed Press, 6 May 1980, Page 8