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The Cuban pitcher Armando Dueñas, originally from Matanzas and signed with the Samanes de Aragua in the Venezuelan Major Professional Baseball League, experienced firsthand the devastating earthquake of June 24 while he was at La Guaira Stadium, as he recounted to Cuban sports journalist Pavel Otero in a conversation published on Facebook.
"The most unpleasant experience of my life," was the phrase with which Dueñas summed up the events during the double seismic event of magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 that shook the Andean country, which resulted in at least 920 fatalities and over 3,360 injuries.
The pitcher detailed the moment when it all began: "I was shirtless inside the clubhouse when suddenly I received a notification on my phone about a possible earthquake, and immediately a piece of the stands fell very close to me, and everything started shaking."
With no time to react, Dueñas ran onto the field wearing nothing but his baseball pants.
It was then that he witnessed a scene he will never forget: "When I looked up, I saw that the hotel where the relatives of the visiting team were staying collapsed completely, brother."
The establishment referred to is the Hotel Edwards, a luxurious eight-story building with 106 rooms located in Macuto, La Guaira, which at that time housed family members of players from the Guerreros de Lara and the Delfines de La Guaira, and that was reduced to rubble following the earthquake.
Despite the magnitude of what he experienced, the player from Matanzas came out unscathed: "Thank God, nothing happened to me, but I will never forget this," he assured Otero.
Dueñas also reassured those following his situation from Cuba, confirming that the rest of the Cuban players contracted in Venezuela are doing well.
Regarding his return to the Island, the pitcher explained that he hopes to go back as soon as possible: "I am waiting for arrangements to return to Cuba immediately. They are going to get me a ticket through Valencia airport. The one in Caracas is closed because the runway is destroyed."
The Maiquetía International Airport, the main airport terminal in Venezuela, suffered severe damage to its runway, roofs, and structures, leading to its indefinite closure and the cancellation of flights from airlines such as Iberia, Air Europa, Copa Airlines, and American Airlines, according to reports from El País.
The state of La Guaira, where Dueñas was located, has been declared a natural disaster zone, with over 100 buildings collapsed in the area.
The UN estimated that 6.76 million people were affected by the earthquakes, including two million just in Caracas, while more than 1,000 rescuers from 16 countries were deployed in the country.
After the catastrophe, the Major League Baseball of Venezuela permanently suspended its 2026 season, prioritizing humanitarian aid efforts.
This Saturday, a replica measuring 4.9 was registered, adding to the more than 200 aftershocks recorded since the main earthquake on June 24.
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