Escapes: Day Trip to Freedom: Day Trip to Freedom

In 1980 Fidel Castro sent a horde of Cuban criminals to the U.S. in the Mariel boatlift. Now some of Cuba's best and brightest are also heading for the U.S. -- by escaping. Last week Cuban air force lieutenant Jerman Pompa Gonzales, 24, commandeered a troop transport helicopter formerly used to ferry tourists around the island and flew it to Florida with 33 friends and relatives aboard. On landing at Tamiami Airport near Miami, Pompa and company requested political asylum, which is almost always granted. Pompa enjoyed a reunion with his friend Major Orestes Lorenzo, who flew a MiG-23 to Key West last March.

More defectors are expected soon because a cutoff in aid from the former Soviet Union has triggered severe shortages of fuel and food. A beleaguered Castro has responded to the murmuring of dissidents with a brutal crackdown. In recent months prominent artists, musicians and intellectuals have fled. Even young military officers, says Miami anti-Castro activist Francisco Hernandez, "are completely and totally disillusioned."