Related videos:
Floretist from the time when there was still fencing in Cuba, double Pan American champion in Winnipeg '99, Olympic participant in Sydney 2000, Migsey Dusu Armiñán is a captivating individual. Her kindness transcends her physical presence, and everyone who knows her holds her in friendship. That is why today she is a successful woman in the United States.
What are you doing, what did you graduate in, what is your day-to-day like?
I specialize in the rehabilitation of individuals, whether for pain in various parts of the body or for those who have, for example, experienced falls, traffic accidents, workplace incidents, or require postoperative treatment.
I came to this country and dedicated myself to studying. I have several licenses, including Physical Therapy Assistant, Massage Therapy, Medical Assistant, Full Specialist, Real Estate, Life Insurance (0214), Electrocardiography, Security License D, G, W, Personal Trainer, and Notary Public.
"Girl!!! But have you had time for anything other than studying?"
Hahaha. Well, yes. Look, knowledge takes up no space, and here you need "papers" for everything. Of course, even though I have all those active licenses, I focus more on rehabilitation. In fact, I have a physical therapy center called M&M Rehabilitation Center, located at 10250 SW 56 St, in Miami.
My days, as you could see, are very busy, whether as a therapist or as an administrator, as a mother and as a wife. It’s no secret that running a business is not easy, especially when you have multiple responsibilities at once. But let me tell you that I don’t have just this one business. I have a security company, Reinforced Security Services, through which I offer security guard services at any facility that needs them.
I also own a cleaning company, Shine Bright 305, where we provide services exclusively to shopping centers.
Another business I handle is selling properties for personal or commercial use, and since that seems a bit insufficient to me, I also sell life insurance.
Don't ask me how I can carry so many things, because I don't know. I just do it, that's it!
Never in my professional life had I spoken with such a skilled and tenacious former athlete. Truly, Migsey Dusu is a "gem."
When did you arrive in the United States, and by what means?
I arrived in 2005. I went directly to Mexico and, through the border, from Reinosa to the U.S.
Family? Will the girl be an athlete?
I am married to Mariano Leyva, former coach of the Cuban national boxing team and also a former coach of the Olympic boxing team of Mexico. He participated in the Atlanta 96 Olympics and there he made the decision not to return to Cuba. He is currently a professor of Therapeutic Massage at Praxis Institute and head of the Therapeutic Massage program.
We have an 11-year-old girl who, despite being the daughter of athlete parents, loves art. Our princess is named Katherine Mariana Leyva Dusu. She started modeling at the age of two until she was eight; we had to stop due to COVID, and nowadays she sings, plays the piano, and the clarinet.
In addition to them, I have my mom, my brother, and my two nephews here. In Cuba, my dad and three sisters remain, along with three nephews.
Let's take a look back at your beginnings…
I was born in Santiago de Cuba on January 25, 1972. I didn’t always practice fencing, as I initially started with athletics, but I really didn’t enjoy it. Additionally, my performance was poor. I practiced high jump like Javier Sotomayor, but I was afraid to jump that bar and was switched to hurdle races. On the first day, I fell down, and the teacher told me, “Get up and keep going!” Get up and keep going? Sure, why not!
It was everything for her and for me in athletics; I never returned. Then I went to see one of my best friends, the then fencer from EIDE Mirialis Oñate. She was my inspiration to start fencing.
Tell me about your trainers.
From my time as a fencer, I never forget my coaches. At the EIDE "Capitán Orestes Acosta," Jorge Garbey and Fernando Bárzaga; at the National ESPA, Pedro José Hernández Duquezne and Lourdes Osorio Pang (La China); and in the national team (Cerro Pelado), Osvaldo Puig, Nelson Guevara, and Efigenio Favier. All of them, absolutely all of them, helped shape the fencer that Migsey Dusu you know today.
If you allow me, I would like to acknowledge Osvaldo Puig, who helped me so much in the national team.
Speaking of your fickle sport, you're left-handed. What does being left-handed represent in fencing?
In the fencing of my day, being left-handed was a privilege because there weren’t many, and right-handed opponents found it difficult to compete against a lefty. But now it’s different, as there are just as many left-handed fencers as there are right-handed ones.
What characterized you as a fencer?
I was a very defensive fencer, I had a lot of strength in my hands —well, Julita, you felt my hands on your back… Hahaha, so you know—, and I was
Cuba has held Olympic and world rankings. Currently, it doesn't even hold its own at the regional level. It may be a rhetorical question, but in your opinion, what is going on?
Cuba rose to occupy high positions in Central American, Pan American, world, and Olympic levels, both before and during my time. Unfortunately, I can't say that this continued after my era. Fencing has completely diminished!
The new generation has not had it easy, they have no weapons, no competitions... they have nothing! And the foundation is completely destroyed. When I was competing, there weren't many competitions either, not for women's foil or sabre, but we had the advantage that the men's foil was competing a lot, and we sparred with them, which helped us a little bit.
The first Olympic and world figures, from 12 World Cups, attended around 11; and we, the foil fencers, attended a maximum of two: the Villa de La Habana, because it was in the capital, and maybe one more, and that’s it... Enough! Because, supposedly, there was no budget.
The other part of the preparation was to "shoot with the heart." That's how I spent 14 years of my life on the national team!
They made you prepare and train hard for a competition, and a week before, they would tell you there was no budget... How awful! That thing they say about the "women's foil going on a tour of Europe"... Hahaha, that was a myth! It didn’t exist, and yet they still dared to demand results from us.
I imagine they can't even go on a national tour given the situation in the country. Besides the fact that there is nothing—because THERE IS NOTHING—it’s sad and unfortunate, and they dare to say it's because of the blockade.
What hurts me the most is that they have repeated it so many times; they keep repeating the same thing and don’t see what they are doing inside. And what is most infuriating is that they don’t even believe it themselves. Deep down, they know it’s not true, but... woe to those who think otherwise! Tell me about it; no one can spin tales for me since I’ve lived it. Yes, I “lived in the monster,” and yes, I “know its insides well” because that country is a monster that devours its own children.
Who is the florist you admire the most in the world?
The Italian fencer Giovanna Trillini captivated me with her technique. Moreover, she was an icon of global fencing. Imagine that she participated in five Olympic Games, winning a total of eight medals: two golds in Barcelona 1992, in the individual and team events; gold and bronze in Atlanta 1996, team and individual; gold and bronze in Sydney 2000, team and individual; silver in Athens 2004, individual; and bronze in Beijing 2008, team. She was a “monstrua”: she secured 20 medals at World Championships between 1986 and 2007 and six at the Europeans (1994 to 2007).
And at the national level?
Nationwide, I liked Bárbara Hernández for her style and because she was one of my strongest opponents; not to mention Caridad Estrada.
Migsey Dusu climbed to the podiums at World Cup events, Pan American and Central American Games, as well as at the World University Games in Palma de Mallorca in 1999. That year was particularly outstanding in her career, as she became the champion in individual foil at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg and was part of the leading team in the competition.
How was your departure from the foil team after 14 years?
First, let me tell you that a high-performance athlete requires good nutrition, resources for training and competition, as well as proper preparation. The rest is just nonsense, which they are crazy about in Cuba, the nonsense. What a way to talk nonsense, and they also expect you to applaud it!
I remember that captain meetings were held at the Sports City, and every time an athlete spoke four truths, they would say horrible things to them as if they were going to die. I would talk to my coach and tell him, “I’m not going to speak because if I do and they offend me, that will be my last time on the national team!”
Once, the journalist Rafael Pérez Valdés from the newspaper Granma gave me a controversial interview. And what happened? Because I spoke the truth about what was happening with the women's foil, please, you know how it is! Interviews with athletes were banned unless approved by the national commissioner. The height of tyranny! It's that in Cuba, everything has to go through the filter and you have to say what they want you to say.
All of that was taking a toll on me, and so, I left the national team in 2003; not in the way I wanted, by the way.
And how was it?
Look, let me tell you what happened: I had a boyfriend and he left Cuba for good. I was always clear with him and told him that when that happened, we would break up because I didn't want to leave the country. At that time, I was preparing for the Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic in 2003.
I was the top figure in Cuba and a Pan American champion, but... State Security came through my neighborhood and found out that my boyfriend had left.
Well, they ordered that I could not leave the country under any circumstances. Unfortunately for me, I had a knee injury, and they tried to use that to prevent me from going to the competition.
I was being treated by Professor Rodrigo Álvarez Cambras at the “Frank País” Orthopedic Hospital, but when I had an appointment, I was seen by Dr. Antonio Castro. I explained my issue to him, and without hesitation, he discharged me so I could start training.
I mean, they couldn't use my health as an excuse. However, at Cerro Pelado, they told me that I needed to have a check-up before, during, and after the training. During the training, they claimed I had a tear in my knee and, therefore, I needed to stop. It was a lie, Julita! I was recovering well, I met with the doctors from "Frank País," and then, under strict orders from State Security, they told me the same thing. Can you believe that?!
I met with the people from the Party, and they told me they couldn't "exchange athletes for medals." Are they being brazen? The times I had to compete under pressure, infiltrated, demanding results, but at that moment they couldn't "exchange athletes for medals."
I was on the national fencing team for 14 years, and they were constantly injecting my knee so I could compete. The thing is, in Cuba, people don’t have their own opinions. They are a bunch of puppets doing what the government wants. It’s incredible! They didn’t let me compete in the Villa of Havana because if I did well, it would force them to take me to the Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic in 2003.
And that’s how I had to withdraw, but NOT in the way I wanted to do it. I wanted to validate my continental degree, but unfortunately, I wasn't allowed.
That’s when I decided to do what I had never thought possible: to leave Cuba! I didn’t want to be in such a hypocritical country. I remember crying a lot, but that helped me heal and realize the trash that communism is. Today, I’ve been in the United States for 20 years, this great nation that I am very grateful for, for welcoming me, allowing me to be an honorable American citizen, and giving me many opportunities, helping me become the person I am today.
I thank God, and even them, for having done what they did to me, so I could realize how things really work and encourage me to make the decision to get out of that mess.
Here I have my daughter, born in the U.S., I have my husband, my house, my cars, my businesses. I walk happily and determined, believing that it is always possible to do everything you desire IN FREEDOM, if you put in effort and faith.
Filed under:
