Cuba to boycott Games
Reuters - Sat, 27 Feb 08:04:00 2010
Cuba will boycott the upcoming Central American athletic games in Puerto Rico, saying the United States had failed to guarantee security conditions that would prevent harassment and defections in its Caribbean territory.
A statement by Cuba’s Olympic Committee also said the island’s athletes would not undergo special security screening recently imposed by Washington on citizens of countries suspected by Washington of sponsoring terrorism.
“Experiences in past tournaments in Puerto Rico have not been good,” the Cuban authorities said, explaining why they will be absent from the games in July.
Cuba said its athletes competing in Puerto Rico in the past had been subject to “constant aggression, provocations, insults and permanent pressure by Cuban counterrevolutionary groups.”
Some 40 Cuban athletes, coaches and referees defected during the 1993 Central American games in the Puerto Rican city of Ponce.
This time, Cuba had requested special security measures, visas for its 800-strong delegation and permission to fly to Puerto Rico in its flagship airline Cubana de Aviacion.
“After carefully evaluating each step and the position assumed by the US government in blocking and not granting fair demands, Cuba’s Olympic Committee has decided to officially announce that Cuba will not participate in the competition,” the statement said.
Cuba takes pride in its high-profile amateur sports, which it considers an achievement of its socialist system.
But in the last few years a string of defections has drained Cuba of top-notch athletes such as pitcher Aroldis Chapman, recently signed by the Cincinnati Reds.
Former leader Fidel Castro has accused the United States of luring his country’s athletes with money as part of its ideological war against the Cuban regime.
Reuters