BBC News Online: World: Americas

Cuban baseball star arrives in US

A former Cuban baseball star, Orlando Hernandez, has finally arrived in the United States three months after fleeing Cuba in a small boat, with his wife and a group of friends.

The defectors landed in the Bahamas, before being allowed into Costa Rica.

There Mr Hernandez, a pitcher known throughout Cuba as The Duke, negotiated a multi-million dollar contract with the New York Yankees.

His brother Livan is a top player with the Florida Marlins.The Cuban authorities banned Mr Hernandez from playing baseball in 1996, accusing him of planning to leave the island.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service