Castro pledges fair treatment for returning boxers

HAVANA (Reuters) - Ailing Cuban President Fidel Castro promised on Sunday that two star boxers who left their team during the Pan-American games in Brazil last month would be treated fairly upon their return today by Brazilian authorities.

"They will be offered good jobs in sports in line with their knowledge and experience," Castro said in the latest of his writings to appear in the state-run media.

"These citizens will not be arrested or detained," Castro said, charging stories the boxers were doomed were enemy propaganda.

Guillermo Rigondeaux, two-time bantamweight Olympic champion, and welterweight world champion Erislandy Lara were briefly detained in their lodging on Thursday in a resort town in Rio de Janeiro state for not having travel documents.

They were sent home on a charter flight Saturday night, according to local authorities.

After leaving their team, they had apparently wanted to go to Europe and made no request for asylum in Brazil, but upon their arrest claimed they had been duped, drugged, and kidnapped by individuals working for the German promoter Arena and wanted to return to Cuba.

Arena representative Ahmet Oner told the Brazilian press the company had not forced the boxers to defect and that they had signed contracts and then changed their mind for fear of their family's safety in Communist Cuba.

Castro deplored the defections last month as a "betrayal for money" and said the boxers "were simply knocked out with a blow to the jaw, paid for with North American dollars."

But on Sunday Castro was far more forgiving, stating they would be put up at a guest house to reunite with their families upon arrival and allowed to speak with the press, though he made no mention of their ever fighting again.