US raises Cuban quota

NEW YORK (AP) - US officials have offered to let at least 20,000 Cubans a year emigrate legally to the United States if Havana halts the exodus of boat people.

On Monday Cuba proposed increasing legal emigration to the US to at least 100,000 people a year. That option was rejected by Washington.

More than 30,000 Cubans have set sail for Florida on rafts and boats this year. The US is holding more than 22,000 rafters at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.

On Monday, the US Coast Guard picked up 1,129 refugees in the Florida Straits. Another 84 were picked up early yesterday.