The Embassy
Exactly I will not don’t forget the yr, of study course, but I know that occurred. When I was a teen I was an admirer of Cuban Olympic athletes this sort of as Mireya Luis (who was a breathtaking volleyball player), Magaly Carvajal, and Alberto Juantorena. And that wasn’t all. My bedroom was turned into a “museum for Cuban athletics”. On the wall there were a great deal of photos about Cuba’s idols — from Mireya Luis Hernandez to Roberto Urrutia ( an athlete who has fled his nation ). There had been also adequate publications in my bookcase. It was a very odd expertise.
Lifetime is total of surprises. In those a long time, even so, I realized much more about Cuba than I could have ever figured out in a College, finding a environment that was so distinct from my possess.
Surely my favored working day was when I went to the Cuban Embassy, in Lima, and diplomats gave me publications and newspapers from Havana — Cuba Internacional, Granma, Bohemia, and so on. Obviously I was really happy mainly because I could browse about my idols. All through that time, I did not know absolutely nothing about politics.
My mothers and fathers did not give me authorization to go to the Embassy of the Cuban ( but I went to the Embassy anyway ). Not amazingly. Why? In the latter 50 percent of the 20th century, Cuba had complete ties with anti-democratic groups in Latin American, Africa and Asia. Aside from that, because 1959 Cuba has been dominated by two brothers — Fidel and Raúl Castro Ruz. Underneath Castro’s leadership, the island is a single of the world’s most brutal dictatorships. On the other hand, in the 1970s and 1980s, the Cuban regime experienced sent thousands of publications and newspapers to the 3rd World and other nations.
The “honeymoon” — with the Island — came to an end in the 1990s. This decade was a time when persons in the 3rd Entire world and Japanese Europe demanded civil rights, this kind of as when in 1991 the USSR broke apart into 15 new impartial states.
All the Dictator’s Athletes
Cuba is famous for its traditional music and attractive scenery, but Cuba is also renowned for its excellent Olympic champs. At the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, the Cuban group — which was strongly backed by the Soviet government – won 13 medals, such as five % of all gold manufactured by the Communist nations. For the first time the island experienced six Olympic champs. A single of them was Alberto Juantorena, greatest recognized as the “horse”, who had educated by a Polish mentor — about 80 % of coaches in Cuba were being from the German Democratic Republic ( GDR ), USSR other previous Communist states.
Prior to Juantorena’s Canada excursion, he competed in various international tournaments in the Globe Soviet and other nations. At the 1975 Pan American Video games in Mexico City, he received a silver medal. Months later, Alberto Juantorena manufactured heritage when won two golds in Montreal’76. Curiously Juantorena’s principal rival, Mike Boit, a earth-class runner from Kenya, could not contend because Africa boycotted the Olympics in Canada. In the mid-70s sports activities journals were being contacting him “one of the most effective runners of the earth” mainly because of his intercontinental medals.
From Slavery to Independence
But not all Cuban stories have been content ones. For a lot of good reasons, the island is not an Olympic paradise. The details discuss for them selves. In the latter half of the 20th century, many athletes were being applied as a political propaganda instrument by the Cuban dictatorship. Aside from that, between 1992 and 2008, numerous athletes married to foreigners to acquire the nationality of their husbands, for instance Magdelin Martinez ( track & area / Italy ), Liliane Allen ( athletics / Mexico ), Magaly Carvajal ( volleyball / Spain ), Libania Grenot Martinez ( track & area / Italy ). At the very same time, various athletes had defected in Europe and the Americas.
In 1993, I was definitely surprised when I examine that 30-nine athletes defected — a single of the most important problems in the island — for the duration of the Central American and Caribbean Game titles in Puerto Rico. In recent decades, there have been numerous defections — extra than North Korea or Iran.
Cuban Defectors ( 2006 – 2009 )
Athlete…………………………………………………………….Defection
1. Aguelmis Rojas ( keep track of & industry )……………………..2009, Uruguay
2. Eder Roldan ( soccer )………………………………….2008, United states
3. Jose Manuel Miranda ( soccer )…………………….2008, United states of america
4. Erlys Garcia Baro ( soccer )……………………………2008, United states of america
5. Yenier Bermudez ( soccer )……………………………2008, United states
6. Yordany Alvarez ( soccer )……………………………..2008, Usa
7. Leonni Prieto ( soccer )…………………………………2008, United states of america
8. Yendri Diaz ( soccer )…………………………………….2008,United states
9. Yurisel Laborde ( judo )……………………………….2008, United states of america
10. Guillermo Roberto Cabrera ( volleyball )……..2008, United states of america
11. Pedro Faife ( soccer )…………………………………..2008, Usa
12. Reynier Alcantara ( soccer )…………………………2008, Usa
13. Frank Casañas ( observe & area )……………………2008, Spain
14. Luiz Felipe Meliz ( track & subject )…………………..2007, Spain
15. Yuliane Rodriguez ( basketball )…………………2007, Chile
16. Osvaldo Alonso ( soccer )…………………………..2007, United states of america
17. Lester More ( soccer )………………………………..2007, United states of america
18. Rafael D’Acosta ( handball )………………………2007, Brazil
19. Michael Fernández Garcia ( cycling )………….2007, Brazil
20. Alexei Rodriguez ( baseball )……………………..2007, Dominican R.
21. Raydel Poey ( volleyball )……………………………2007, Bulgaria
22. Yasser Purtuondo ( volleyball )……………………2007, Bulgaria
23. Alexander Martinez ( track & subject )……………….2006, Switzerland
24. Yunier Alvarez ( badminton )……………………….2006, Dominican R.
25. Kenny Rodriguez ( baseball )…………………….2006, Ecuador
26. Yan Barthelemy ( boxing )…………………………..2006, Venezuela
27. Odlanier Solis Forte ( boxing )……………………2006, Venezuela
28. Yuriorkis Gamboa ( boxing )………………………2006, Venezuela
29. Carlos Castillo ( handball )………………………2006, Dominican Republic
30. Julio Acosta ( handball )………………………..2006, Dominican Republic
31. Damaris Nay ( handball )……………………..2006, Dominican Republic
32. Isaura Medina ( badminton )…………………2006, Dominican Republic
