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Our interviewee today is a cheerful person, considerate, a good companion, and an excellent professional. The broadcaster and sports commentator Manuel Alejandro Pérez Capote, with over 30 years of experience in Cuban radio and television, is renowned for covering significant national and international events.
With a solid academic and teaching background, Pérez Capote participated in four Olympic Games (Athens 2004, London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020); eight Pan American Games, from Havana 1991 to Lima 2019 (excluding Rio 2007), and seven World Cup qualifying tournaments in football, among other major events.
Manolito, you disappeared from the screen and radio in Cuba. Where are you? What are you doing at the moment?
First of all, greetings to you and the readers of CiberCuba. Thank you for this connection and for not forgetting me. I am in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain.
I arrived as a Spanish citizen through my great-grandfather, thanks to the Law of Democratic Memory. I've been here for eight months, and I recently started working with a contract at "Sabor a España," the only real place that gave me the opportunity. It's a store for candied dry products, and I am a sales assistant.
Life as an emigrant is not easy; it is the reverse journey that our ancestors took; they were filled with dreams in search of a future, and we, at this age, are forced to find a present… Nothing more!
In other jobs where I sent my resume or went in person, nothing at all, including almost all the stations on this island, where they told me, "We'll see...," but I'm still waiting... haha.
Thanks to the Tenerife announcer Marcelino Hernández, a family friend, I have been able to collaborate on a sports section, first on Radio Tiempo Tenerife and now on Radio Juventud de Canarias.
Do you have any chance of narrating?
Look, hope is not lost. I am going to do everything I can to develop my profession, but it seems a bit difficult in the Canary Islands. Nevertheless, I won't stop, and there are projects!
You're no longer a child; what motivated you to leave Cuba "at this stage of the game"?
I think the reason is obvious. Life is one, only one, and you can't be romantic about it. Unfortunately, I lost my mother in November 2024, who was truly what kept me grounded, besides my children of course, but they also have their own paths laid out.
Moreover, as is known, the country is going through a crisis in every sense, and if you have the opportunity to seek a better future, then go for it.
I believe that any Cuban with even the slightest chance to emigrate will do so and will continue to do so. If not, let them check the statistics of the exodus from the island over the past year, over the last two years... and they will have the answer.
Beginnings of Manuel Aejandro: Where are you from? Why narrator, did you practice any sport?
I was proudly born in Guanabacoa, the Villa of Pepe Antonio, the birthplace of great cultural figures like Bola de Nieve and Rita Montaner. I was raised in San Miguel del Padrón… just imagine what a mix it is!
There in San Miguel, land of great baseball players, is where I precisely begin in this world, in 1988, at the "Bobby Salamanca" Ramal School of Journalism.
Let me tell you that I practiced several sports, but the one in which I reached a certain level was cycling; I spent two years at the ESPA "Manuel Permuy" in Havana.
However, my future was not in cycling, so in 1989 I began collaborating with the capital's radio station COCO. I count my years of career starting in 1991 when I participated as a sports narrator-commentator at the Pan American Games in Havana, being part of the COCO coverage team.
I don't need to tell you that it was a unique experience, one that served as a solid foundation for my professional life and confirmed that this was what I wanted. I was at that station until 1996, when I moved to Radio Rebelde, where I stayed until 2023.
I shared my work in radio with television. From 1996 to 2024, I worked in sports segments of the information system—always in sports—and at Tele Rebelde.
What is your favorite medium, radio or television?
I like both. I have no preference for either; each has its own code and way of expressing itself.
What memories do you keep from your time in radio, the ones you will never forget?
What can I say? I believe we all store in our hearts and minds moments we would rather forget. That was the case in 2007 and 2008 with Rebelde, where, after working tirelessly, I earned the right to attend the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro and the Olympic Games in Beijing, and simply, I was not part of the narrators' team. They never told me why I wasn't going... Those things happen, you know!
On Tele Rebelde, the "bad" moment was not attending the Paris 2024 Olympics, as Ángel Luis was no longer around and could have gone, but they chose to take a cameraman instead—things from the Orinoco that neither you nor I understand... haha.
I have nothing against the cameraman. In fact, without him, the work of the journalist, which is as important as the storytelling itself, would not exist; however, one profession has nothing to do with the other, so it should not have been disqualifying, especially when there was already a cameraman in the delegation.
Things that always happen; by the way, I know a lot about the subject.
When reflecting on the past, I fondly remember several colleagues, just as I have unpleasant memories of others. Without renouncing ethics, can you mention a few names of both, or just of the former?
I fondly remember Piti Rivera, a man, a friend, and one of the best narrators in Cuba, without a doubt! We shared about 10 cycling tours around Cuba and several baseball playoffs.
A special mention goes to the gentleman of Cuban narration, a decent person and a very good professional, with a vast culture and always willing to help, Eddy Martin. Also, and equally notable, are the narrators René Navarro, Héctor Rodríguez, and Diego Méndez, my instructors in the Narration course, and later colleagues. I cannot omit Modesto Agüero, who is very versatile, one of those who could be thrown into any sport and excelled with skill and capability.
Of the unpleasant ones, it's better not to mention them, although I really never had anything with anyone. Ah! I miss the best of these times, Renier González, and it's not just because he's my co-father-in-law, okay? Hahaha...
For you, emblematic figures of storytelling in Cuba.
I already mentioned some greats who are iconic figures, but in the elite, I place one who, unfortunately, left us too soon, the brilliant Bobby Salamanca, and another whom we did not have the opportunity to enjoy in Cuba, but who certainly elevated our profession in the best baseball in the world, Felo Ramírez, who has a place in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. I had the honor of meeting Felo in Miami, and I was able to talk with him for about an hour.
Which sports did you commentate on most frequently, and which ones would you have liked to commentate on more?
The sports I narrated the most were soccer, cycling, baseball, volleyball, and basketball, as well as rowing, kayaking, and canoeing. I would have liked to narrate more combat sports, even though I practiced taekwondo and judo; I didn't have the opportunity to delve into boxing and wrestling, which I would have greatly enjoyed.
What can you say about the violence in Cuban stadiums? Is it a reflection of the society in which we live?
I have been keeping up with the events, the violence in Sancti Spíritus, in Santiago... In short!, in many beloved places where I have very fond memories, which should be sports arenas and peaceful spaces.
It goes without saying that the hostile atmosphere felt in the fields and stands is a reflection of the social reality, and in one way or another, it is necessary to put a serious stop to it to prevent greater problems, although there have already been some significant incidents, certainly.
The family?
I have two children, Alejandro and Massiel, who are still in Cuba, both full of dreams and ambitions. I am married to Itahimy, and together with her daughter Patricia, we have formed a family on this side of the "pond."
Manuel Alejandro, although it is said that journalists and commentators should not have favorites, you know that's a fallacy. Who are your favorites, in soccer and in baseball?
Oh, Julita, you’re right! Here it is: my teams in MLB are the Astros and the Dodgers; in the "most universal" one, Barcelona. In Cuba, it's Industriales in the National Series, and in the NBA, the Lakers and the Warriors.
You live in the Canary Islands, building a present that is almost close to what your retirement moment would have been. What do you think of current Cuba, of those stars in sports and culture, of all those professionals and workers who believed and now do not even have a coffin to rest in?
Although you may not live on the island and have another nationality, it always hurts to see our homeland like this. A country with many good people eager to make a difference. I deeply value those who boldly speak out without mincing words, defending a struggling people.
For example, I applaud actor Luis Alberto García for his bravery, intelligence, and the directness of his messages, which reflect the harsh reality of the abandonment of figures (not only sports figures) and also of emblematic places.
The cases of the volleyball player Abel Sarmientos, the coach and basketball player Miguelito Calderón, and “The Meteor of La Maya”, Braudilio Vinent, are just a few tangible examples of the harshest reality.
By the way, I've seen you on your YouTube channel "Narrando la Vida"...
Well, yes. Great experiences and truths about current Cuban sports can be shared with me on that channel; it’s another way to start anew… Here we are!
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