Cuban recruits at California post

Cubans and Nicaraguans determined to overthrow their nations' leftist governments are undergoing paramilitary training at a remote southern California desert base.

The training site, called Camp Yumuri, is operated by Alpha 66, a Miami-based group formed in 1961 which has claimed responsibility for widespread acts of sabotage in Cuba in its fight against the communist regime of Fidel Castro. Federal and local authorities confirmed existence of the desert outpost, but refused to disclose the exact San Bernardino County location. The existence of the camp, on privately owned property, has been known by authorities since a KABC-TV report in November.

Alpha 66 operates similar paramilitary camps in southern Florida and Virginia and claims to have trained several people who have infiltrated Cuba in recent months.

The FBI said there is nothing illegal about the group's activities, because it is not violating state or federal laws. But a sheriff's deputy said that Alpha 66 has started using toy weapons ever since a warning several months ago that it was violating the California Penal Code by using live ammunition.