Thursday's CNN Newsroom zeroed in on "one of the issues that needs to be resolved" between the U.S. and the communist regime in Cuba – namely, its providing a safe harbor for U.S. fugitive Charlie Hill. Correspondent Patrick Oppmann interviewed Hill, and noted that he is "accused of killing a police officer in New Mexico. He's accused of hijacking a plane 43 years ago to Cuba." Oppmann then asked whether he was a cop killer – which he denied – and whether he missed the U.S.
The correspondent also detailed that Hill "says that he's not a terrorist, but he also tells us that he's hoping to go back to the United States." He later pointed out how the totalitarian Cuban government "bring up the fugitives, they say, live in the U.S. that they would like brought back to Cuba."
Anchor Carol Costello introduced Oppmann's report by highlighting that "President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro could indeed meet face-to-face this week. The two leaders are scheduled to attend the Summit of the Americas in Panama. White House officials say President Obama plans to interact with Castro, in an effort to improve U.S.-Cuban relations – this as the State Department recommends removing Cuba from the state sponsors of terrorism list."
The CNN journalist picked up where Costello left off, and put the Hill case in the context of the possible meeting between Obama and Castro:
PATRICK OPPMANN: ...[T]his will certainly ease a way to that interaction or encounter that President Obama and Raul Castro have in Panama. This is one of the major stumbling blocks. It's been three months, of course, since the shift in policy between these two countries. There's still not been a resumption of formal diplomatic ties. There's still no U.S. Embassy in Havana. This is going to ease the way for that.
But of course, there's still a lot of issues between these two countries. Just a few days ago, we talked to one of them. A man named Charlie Hill is accused of killing a police officer in New Mexico. He's accused of hijacking a plane 43 years ago to Cuba. And he says that he's not a terrorist, but he also tells us that he's hoping to go back to the United States.
CHARLIE HILL, U.S. FUGITIVE LIVING IN CUBA (from pre-recorded interview): I want to accomplish that people understand that I'm not a criminal – that I'm not a terrorist.
OPPMANN (off-camera): Are you a cop killer?
HILL: No. No, I never killed cops. I never did get that. I was – I'm a Vietnam veteran. People don't ask me, did I kill Vietnamese? But that was authorized by the American government.
OPPMANN: You miss your country?
HILL: Of course – of course, I miss my country. You know, I miss my – my family. I miss – I would like to go back to where my grandparents were born – where I was born.
OPPMANN (live): So, of course, this is one of the issues that needs to be resolved. U.S. officials tell us every time we meet with their Cuban counterparts, they bring up these issues. Cubans, of course, bring up the fugitives, they say, live in the U.S. that they would like brought back to Cuba. So we'll see if this comes up in the next few days. It's, really, one of the top issues that Cuba and the United States still need to work out – what happens to people like Charlie Hill? Do they stay in Cuba, or will they be sent back to face the American justice system, Carol?
COSTELLO: Patrick Oppmann, reporting live for us from Havana – thanks so much.
The correspondent didn't explain whether the "fugitives" that the communist government wants extradited back to Cuba are actual criminals or political dissidents that oppose its rule.
Oppman filed an extended version of his interview with Hill in a Thursday article on CNN.com, where the correspondent disclosed the fugitive's radical background – a detail that he left out of his report on CNN Newsroom:
Hill was a black power militant and said he is still a revolutionary. But he craves the kind of French fries that only capitalism can make....Critics of the new opening to Cuba say Havana's harboring of fugitives like Charlie Hill is enough of a reason to maintain a hard line against the government of Raul Castro and keep Cuba on the State Department list of countries that support terrorism....
Charlie Hill's journey began on November 8, 1971, when he and two other men -- Michael Finney and Ralph Goodwin -- were pulled over on I-40 outside Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the middle of a cross-country drive.
All three men were members of the Republic of New Afrika, a black power militant group that sought to break off Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina into a separate nation for African-Americans.
They were on the way from California to the South with a car loaded with weapons to support the cause.
New Mexico State Police Officer Robert Rosenbloom pulled over their rented Ford Galaxie sedan, on suspicion that the car was stolen....A police officer arriving at the scene found Rosenbloom's body lying face down on the road...There was a single bullet wound to his throat....Hill copped to riding in the sedan that Rosenbloom pulled over but refused to say who shot the policeman.
"I am not a cop killer. I am a freedom fighter," Hill said. "I am a Vietnam vet and people never ask me if I killed Vietnamese because that was authorized by the American government. I dedicated myself to liberating my people."
...The three men...commandeered a tow truck at gunpoint, crashed through a fence onto the runway of Albuquerque International Airport and ran up the gangway to TWA Flight 106.
Elizabeth Walthall was a flight attendant aboard the Boeing 727 when the fugitives stormed aboard....Walthall, now 72, said Charlie Hill put a blade to her throat.
"He told me to do what he said because 'this is no butter knife.' I told him, 'Well, I am no piece of bread.'"
Hill laughed, she said, and lowered the knife.
Hijacker Michael Finney glowered and pointed a pistol at the flight attendants, Walthall said, a tremor of fear audible in her voice, as if the hijacking had just happened.
"Finney said he would shoot us and that he had already killed a man," Walthall said.
The hijackers ordered the crew to fly to Africa. Informed the plane couldn't fly that far, they changed their destination.
Take us to Cuba, they told the pilot.
The trio knew Cuba would most likely let them stay....Cuba became popular with leftist revolutionaries as well as common criminals seeking a country beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement....Revolutionary Cuba soon disappointed Hill. Cuban officials denied his request for military training to fight with revolutionary groups in Africa.
Instead he was put to work cutting sugar cane, doing construction and administrating a clothing store.
