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Show ‘The Salt Lake Tribune WORLD Sunday, January 16, 2000 An Unreal Odyssey: Cubans ‘Sold’ Into Modern-DaySlavery by Castro But think of Miami as a way sta- tion in a journey that started in “When I think of everything machinery. In reality, the program was to ease civil unrest due to unemployment and pump money into communist ac tivities in Cuba and worldwide. Chosen workers would be sent to Eastern bloc communist countries to work under four-year Man describes experiences during time as worker in communist Eastern bloc BY DAMARYS OCANA KNIGHT RIDDER NEWS SERVICE PRAGUE, Czech Republic — This is where the end of Carlos Morel's odyssey begins. * He falls to his knees as he leaves the airport, kisses the snowfall,*and about the same mell. It's strange to Morel now, how you always come back to the place where you've felt the most pain and seen the most beauty. Like Homer's battle-worn and homesick Odysseus finally reaching Ithaca after years of forced wandering, More! is home. And like Odysseus, he has sto- Ties to tell. Since 1994, Morel, 44, has lived in Miami, where he is a graphic designer and an active memberof an anti-Castro Cuban exile group. contracts. They were promised language old pub, visiting beautiful places. Each word was painstakingly pounded on an old typewriter as letters to his godmother in Miami. His journey next took him to Canada, where in 1990 he defected during a layover on a flight back to Cuba. asked him to accompanyher to apply for a work-abroad program. Officials sold the program to young Cubans as a way to earn money while learning technical courses, clothes, comfortable liv. ing quarters. Embassy officials and supervisors from Cubatecnica, the government-run agency that coordinated the program, would offer support and guidance. skills, such as auto mechanics and operation of textile and other See Next Page Granite sidewalk with his eyes ¢losed and then rises lik surfacing after years underwater. His face is awash in conflicting emotions:release and suffocation. Looking around, Morel blinks rapidly, so that his mind,can catch up to the images antcorrelate them with the memories coming in flashes: - It's 1986 again, and Fidel's latest shipment of cheap laborto a Central Europeanally, Czechoslo- vakia, arrives in this same airport. e The group of young men and women walk outof a plane under an ominous winter sky. They shiver from a cold foreign to their bodies, not yet knowing they’ve been duped. Among them is Morel. He is Whenyouput your moneyin U.S. Bank, about to becomea victim and an unofficial historian of oneof Fidel our community Castro's most egregious, yet leastknown tools for money and control — a programthat from 1978 to is the richerforit. 1991 sent 80,000 young men and -women to Eastern bloc countries to work for meager pay. The host ‘countries got cheap, unskilled labor for jobs the natives didn’t want,and Castro got cash. Everything now, in 1999,is dif- We're proudto partner with our customersto support the neighborhoods wherewelive and work. Because you ferent, Morel notices as he rides away in a friend's car, Even the put your money to work at U.S. Bank} we're able to give back to the community.In fact, over the last decade country’s name is different. It’s now the Czech Republic, which is Special CO Rate celebrating the 10th anniversary of its liberation from Communism. Closirlg his eyes now, Morel 6.30) % apy 19 Mont breathes deeply and smells a memory. “That peculiar smell — carbon from the cheap heaters,” he says, Miami about a magnificent we've contributed over $150 million to those in need. In addition, our 4t¥ organizations. To thank you for what we've accomplished together, we invite you to enjoy incredible rates on a CD and Indexed Money Market , account. Comein‘or call 1-800-771-BANKtoday. 4,50|% FIC Insured eater" p have donated thousands of volunteer hours to charitable To get these special rates, open an account by January 22, 2000. as if sated. “You always smell it here when winter starts. Delicious.” Timehas a way of turning the bitter into the sweet. Years ago, desperate in this very land, Morel wrotea letter to his godmother in Indexed Money Market** Checking Savings CDs * ‘Loans Credit Cards ‘Online ‘Banking www.usbank.com (Sbank. "Annual Percentage Yield (APY) assumesprincipal and interest remain on deposit for the term of the certificate, $5,000 minimum deposit plus a U.S. Bank Checking account required to open the CDatthe stated APY. Penalty will be imposedfor early 3 ter Sonus APYsand corresponding minimum collected balances are: $0~4,999 1 51% APY, $5,000-24,999 4.50% APY, $25. ‘may change after account opening. 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