U.S. visas are approved for 14 returned to Cuba

MIAMI (AP) — Fourteen Cubans sent back to their homeland by the Coast Guard after their boat landed at an abandoned U.S. bridge in the Florida Keys can return to the United States — provided, of course, Fidel Castro lets them go.

The U.S. government will issue visas to the Cubans under an agreement approved last week by a federal judge.

"This will give them visas within 10 days. The other process could take 10 months, or a year or two," said Ramon Saul Sanchez, head of a Cuban-American advocacy group.

There is still no guarantee that Cuba will permit the group, which includes two children ages 2 and 13, to leave the island. A call to the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, which represents Castro's government, was not immediately returned Monday.