The Cuban baseball player Yunel Escobar came out against the Colombian government, which does not recognize the Cuban Professional Baseball Federation (FEPCUBE) nor does he approve of his players using the national symbols of Cuba in the next Intercontinental Series.
Yunel, a member of the Patria y Vida group, stated at Miami Dade College's (MDC) North Campus that this ban will not affect his team's participation in the event and that FEPCUBE will respect the decision of the Colombian authorities.
"If we can't sing the national anthem, if we can't use the flag, me particularly and the team... I think there is no problem. We have the flag and the national anthem in our hearts," he said.
The former industrialist, who hours before indicated that he represents the Cuban exile, political prisoners and those killed at sea, did not show concern about the controversy caused by the attitude of the leftist government of Colombia.
"If we have to do a minute of silence, we do it. If we have to put a knee on the ground, we do it. This is a Cuban exile team. We don't need the flag or the anthem, we carry them in our hearts "he stressed.
Previously, Edinson Rentería, president of Team Rentería USA, a private entity that organizes the tournament, announced that the FEPCUBE team, made up of Cubans in exile, is willing to give up using the anthem and flag to ensure their participation in the tournament. event.
Like Yunel, his partner Henry Urrutia declared that national symbols do not belong to a government.
"The national anthem, the attributes, the flag do not belong to a government, they are from the people of its people and for its people and no matter what happens we will always carry these things with us wherever we are and go. And no one can take that away from us! ", said the man from Las Tuscany in a tweet.
On Tuesday, Colombia declared that it does not support the Intercontinental Baseball Series Professional from Barranquilla, and who does not recognize the FEPCUBE, in a clear show of support for the authorities of the Cuban regime.
The Colombian Ministry of Sports accused the FEPCUBE of attempting to use the name, representation and national symbols of Cuba "without the respective authorization of the competent body of the country of origin," and pointed out that its use would be "a clear infringement of the rights constitutional and sporting rights of the Republic of Cuba".
Other members of the team Homeland and Life that already started training are Jorge Soler, Yulieski Gurriel and Aroldis Chapman.
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