From Herald Staff and Wire Reports

NASSAU, Bahamas -- After months of uncertainty over their fate, 65 Cuban boat people -- including three baseball players and a coach -- were sent back to Cuba on Monday, in the first such repatriation of Cuban refugees from the Bahamas since December.

The Cuban refugees repatriated from the Bahamas, many of whom had been held for months at a Nassau detention center, left aboard a chartered Cubana de Aviacion flight. Another group of 65 Cuban refugees is expected to be sent back to Cuba late this week, Bahamian officials said.

Baseball agent tried to help

Cubas began trying to get visas for the detained Cubans in the Bahamas after dozens went on a hunger strike in April, objecting that baseball stars easily get asylum while ordinary Cubans are sent home to the communist-ruled island.

Cubas said one of the reasons for the delay in getting visas was that Costa Rica, which welcomed dozens of Cubans last year, got a new government last month.

Earlier this year, Costa Rica gave asylum to Cuban baseball defector Orlando ``El Duque'' Hernandez, who later signed a $6.6 million contract with the New York Yankees.

Other refugees

Seven other Cubans defected with Hernandez. Catcher Alberto Hernandez (no relation), 27, and outfielder-catcher Joel Pedroso, 21, are living in San Jose, Costa Rica, hoping to resume their careers soon. Noris Bosch, Orlando's girlfriend, lives in Miami. The remaining four have working permits and are living in San Jose.

Four baseball players and a coach left Cuba in March: first baseman Jorge Luis Toca, 27; catcher Angel Lopez, 25; second baseman Jorge Diaz, 23; Michael Jova, a 17-year-old shortstop from Cuba's junior Olympic team, and pitching coach Orlando Chinea, 41.

Lopez, Diaz, Jova and Chinea were sent home Monday, said Vernon Burrows, a senior official with the Bahamas immigration service. Toca, who is married to a Japanese citizen, was granted a Japanese visa and is living in Japan.

Cries of despair

``Toca called me [Monday morning],'' Guim said. ``When he heard the news, he broke down crying. He has called me seven times. He keeps telling me, `Rene, Castro is going to kill them. He's going to kill my best friends.' ''

Following Monday's deportations, the 196 remaining Cubans at the Bahamas detention center lined up quietly for roll call.

Another 18 Cuban refugees were sent back home from Puerto Rico, after being rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard last week, U.S. officials said. They were part of two groups found in small boats between the Bahamas and Florida last week, they said.

Three of the boat people rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard and taken to Puerto Rico were taken to the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo to complete their paperwork for political asylum, U.S. officials said.

Herald staff writers Cynthia Corzo and Ken Rodriguez contributed to this report.