Cuban Athletes in Brazil Rushed Back Home for Fear of Mass Defection

Cuban athletes leave Pan American Games A rumor that the Cuban athletes participating in the Pan American Games in Brazil were planning a spectacular mass defection, apparently, was the reason behind the sudden and unexpected departure  of the Cuban delegation from Brazil. They returned home leaving behind at least a medal to receive and without taking part in the closing ceremonies.

According to the Brazilian press, Raul Castro, Cuba's acting president, was the one who ordered the immediate return of the athletes to Havana. About 200 athletes and coaches were taken from the Pan-American Village to the International Airport Tom Jobim in Rio in six buses and two trucks.

Asked by reporters why they were leaving a few of the athletes who were talking said that the early departure had been decided even before they left Cuba. At Infraero, the Brazilian air authority, an official informed that the plane they used  had been chartered and initial plans were for the aircraft to leave Sunday night, July 29.

Rodolfo Terez, a Cuban coach, seemed irritated when asked why the whole delegation was leaving Brazil before the end of the games. His answer: "Part of the delegation goes today and the rest tomorrow. Nothing happened and if you ask me this again I will not answer."

The Cubans, on Saturday, won a bronze in the men's tournament, but the Cuban team left the Maracanãzinho way before the medals were given. With the sudden departure there will be no participant of Cuba in the traditional marathon that happens today. Norbert Gutierrez was the athlete supposed to represent that country.

There were four known cases of Cuban defectors during the game. The first case occurred even before the opening ceremonies. Handball player Rafael Capote, 19, abandoned his colleagues July 11, taking a taxi to São Paulo, where he met a fellow Cuban who had defected earlier. Capote, who has since disappeared, said that he was going to ask for political asylum in Brazil.

Artistic gymnastics coach Lázaro Lamelas Ramí­rez was the second one to defect. Then it was the time for boxers Guillermo Rigondeaux and Erislandy Santoya to also abandon their colleagues. Rigondeaux and Santoya. went to Germany, where they have signed a five-year contract with a TV sports channel.

Cuba is the second country with more medals in these Pan-American games, just behind the United States, Cubans got 58 gold medals, 35 silver ones and another 40 of bronze.

Tags:

You May Also Like

The Year We Were So Happy

Brazilians have been hit by a serious nostalgia affliction since the recent release of ...

Brazil to Face International Crisis by Strengthening Domestic Market

In Brazil and Latin American in general stocks marked their own course on Wednesday ...

World’s Largest Ethanol Maker Take Over of Exxon Brazil Is a Surprise

Cosan, a Brazilian company and the world's largest sugar and ethanol processor announced it ...

Blackouts Are Thing of Past, in Brazil, Says Lula

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva affirmed that the projects implemented by the ...

Brazilian Elections Theme of Business Breakfast in New York

Weil, Gotshal & Manges, the international law firm headquartered in New York, will serve ...

Why Is Brazil Press So Infatuated with Marina Silva’s Candidacy?

Brazilian senator Marina Silva, from Acre state’s Workers Party (PT) was featured on major ...

Heavy Debtor Brazil Pardons Mozambique Debt

During the meeting yesterday between the presidents of Mozambique, Joaquim Alberto Chissano, and Brazil, ...

Central Bank Forecasts Brazil’s GDP Will Grow 5.8% in 2010

Brazil's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow 5.8% in the coming year. The projection ...

Silenced Nightingale

Brazilian Bidu Sayão was 18 when she premiered in the Teatro Municipal do Rio ...

Brazil’s Lula Appeals for Haiti and Africa in Paris

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva appealed to the international community to help ...