Cuba Defense

A U.S. Army private who went absent without leave from his post in West Germany last month may have defected to Cuba, the Defense Department said Monday. Responding to a report on Radio Havana, the Pentagon said it is investigating the possibility that the missing soldier, Pfc. Hugo Romeu, 31, of Glenview, Ill., "may indeed be the individual alluded to in the Cuban radio report." Radio Havana, monitored in Miami, claimed Monday that a man it identified as Army Capt.

Cuban President Fidel Castro's designation of his brother, Raul, as heir to the reins of government portends a strengthening of the Soviet grip on the island, U.S. experts on Cuba agree. "I doubt that Raul and the 'Raulistas' can be said to be just conduits for Soviet policy, but they have a professional relationship with Moscow to a far greater degree than Fidel has ever had," said UCLA political scientist Eduardo Gonzalez.

Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro missed Havana's May Day parade Tuesday for the first time in decades but still managed to set the political themes for the workers march that drew half a million people.

Daniel Ballart's goal on a penalty shot gave Spain an 11-10 victory over Cuba and the gold medal in the Junior World Water Polo Championship Sunday at Corona del Mar High School Sunday. The score was tied, 10-10, when Javier Aznar lobbed a pass from the right wing toward two-meter man Ignacio Pubill. The play was designed to have Pubill redirect the pass into the goal, but Pubill was held by Cuba's Antonio Perez Sanchez and a four-meter penalty shot was awarded to Spain.

The former chief military prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay said Thursday that he would be a defense witness for the driver of Osama bin Laden. Air Force Col. Morris Davis, who resigned in October over alleged political interference in the U.S. military tribunals, told the Associated Press that he would appear at a hearing for Salim Ahmed Hamdan. "I expect to be called as a witness. . . . I'm more than happy to testify," Davis said in a telephone interview from Washington.

In a trial that may ultimately shine a spotlight on Major League Baseball's Cuba policies, baseball agent Gustavo Dominguez today faces charges of smuggling Cuban players to the U.S., then harboring them for profit. Dominguez, a former Cal State Northridge pitcher who lives in Chatsworth, was charged by a grand jury in October with conspiring to bring Cuban players into the U.S.

Ignoring angry protests from the United States' closest allies, the Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would tighten sanctions on Cuba so stringently that foreign companies doing business there could face lawsuits in U.S. courts. Until recently, the legislation had been opposed by President Clinton, who agreed with the Canadian and European governments that its provisions would impinge on the right of other countries to engage in international commerce and investment.

Fidel Castro flew home to Cuba ahead of schedule Wednesday. He missed seeing his favorite team in his favorite sport fight back from five runs behind to frustrate the United States, 9-6, in a game between Olympic baseball's only unbeaten teams. He also missed a game that was poorly played (nine errors) and four hours long. Stung by a five-run U.S. first inning, the Cubans struck back quickly with Antonio Pacheco's grand slam in the third inning and took the lead for good by the fourth.

Nearly 200 residents of Hawaii Island fled their homes Monday as Hurricane Fernanda and its 105 m.p.h. winds swirled offshore. Meanwhile, forecasters warned residents of the Dominican Republic to prepare for Tropical Storm Cindy. A hurricane watch was in effect for all of the Hawaiian Islands. A hurricane warning for Hawaii, the southernmost island, was downgraded Monday after the hurricane drifted slightly north.

Fearing the loss of the Ventura County's largest Navy base and its $1-billion contribution to the economy, business and civic leaders have stepped up a major lobbying effort aimed at saving the base from closure. In recent weeks, members of the Ventura County BRAC '95 Task Force have stated that the Point Mugu Naval Air Weapons Station could be closed given a race between the Navy base and giant Eglin Air Force Base, near Pensacola, Fla.