Cinco mas
Five more Cuban soccer players defected to the United States last night (Miami Herald link);
Not even their families knew that team captain Yenier Bermudez, goalkeeper Jose Manuel Miranda, defender Erlys Garcia Baro, midfielder Yordany Alvarez and defender Loanni Prieto planned to defect. But after Tuesday night’s game, they bolted from a Tampa hotel, slipped into the waiting car of a mutual friend and headed east.
They bought a cellphone, contacted a lawyer, and celebrated their newfound freedom with a nice Cuban meal.
”We’re fine, calm, feeling hopeful about our new lives,” Bermudez told The Miami Herald by phone Wednesday night. “Of course, we’re nervous because we’re young, have no family here, and we don’t yet know the way of life here, but we hope the Cuban and American communities will help us get started.”
So apparently Cubans aren’t as entralled with the prospect of a more open Cuba under Raul Castro then they were with Fidel.
”I watched their game against the U.S. on TV, and I thought the Cuban team played very well,” [Luiz Muzzi, general manager of Miami FC] said. “We were kind of scouting that game because anytime a Cuban team comes to the United States, there’s a chance someone might defect.”
You mean it’s never a surprise that someone would want to escape a life of the grand riches, the free health care and the free schooling they get in Cuba?
Welcome, guys. I think that makes about 25 defectors this year. Haven’t they heard how much better Cuba will be now that Raul is in charge?
