Havana
Fidel Castro this week restored the Cuban citizenship of seven exiles who took part in the Bay of Pigs invasion, in 1961. “The Cold War is over,” said one of the men, Mario Cabello, 61, of Miami. About 1,500 U.S.-trained exiles tried to topple Castro’s fledgling government in the disastrous three-day attack. A thousand were captured, imprisoned, and symbolically stripped of their Cuban citizenship before being allowed to leave the country. Cuban lawmaker Jose Luis Toledo said Castro was making a gesture of “peace and goodwill.” But Bush administration officials dismissed the move as propaganda aimed at diverting attention from the lack of freedom on the communist island.
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