Full Seats & a Cruel Promise

After almost a month of operation, the Cuban refugee airlift is shaking down into a steady, efficient rescue of people fleeing Castro's Communist dictatorship. The flights are now up to two planes a day, five days a week, and the Pan American DC-7s bring their full load of 95 passengers. In the first 24 days of the lift, some 2,500 Cubans left their unhappy homeland. Less than half settled in the Miami area, which already has 100,000 Cuban refugees. The rest of the newcomers went to other cities throughout the country.

For the 150,000 or more Cubans whose turns on the flights may not come for months, Castro promises a cruel waiting period. To government agencies and state-run businesses went an order to fire all workers who sign up for the airlift. To make life doubly difficult and possibly discourage any more Cubans from signing up to leave, the Communists also announced that before departing, would-be exiles must return every peso withdrawn from their bank accounts since Sept. 28—the date of Castro's "open door" speech.