At Mr Helms's request, a seven-year-old Cuban boy was allowed to fly back to the United States with the delegation to receive treatment for liver disease in North Carolina, where he has relatives.

ECONOMIST: George Ryan in Cuba

Under different circumstances, Arthur McKechnie would have been one of those people you read about in the newspaper: the schizoid boy who jumps out of a window thinking he can fly, the mad explorer who crosses the Arctic with nothing but a rucksack and a pair of crampons.

NEWYORKER: Something Like Happy