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As salsa music pulsed from speakers, 100 Cuban refugees Wednesday walked past a sign wishing them good luck and onto a plane headed for a place that belied the festive atmosphere-the island they’d risked their lives to flee. The Cubans, guarded by 50 U.S. soldiers, were the first of about 500 being returned Wednesday, the first day of a program to remove them from Panama. Twelve hundred U.S. troops have been flown to Panama to provide extra strength for the unpopular operation.
