Cubans Play Lottery For U.S. Visas

Wed., March 13, 1996

Compiled From Wire Services

For the second consecutive year, thousands of Cubans will try their luck at reaching the United States legally.

Instead of climbing on a raft, applicants will mail or deliver a sealed envelope to U.S. authorities in Havana between Friday and April 20. A computer lottery, known as the Special Cuban Migration Program, will randomly select winners beginning in May.

The prizes: U.S. visas.

The lottery is part of a U.S.-Cuba migration agreement reached in September, 1994 to halt the flow of rafters from Cuba. The United States promised to admit at least 20,000 Cubans annually if President Fidel Castro’s government halted the exodus.

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Cubans Play Lottery For U.S. Visas

Jesse Tinsley

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