The Cuban delegation that will compete in the XXV Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo 2026 was officially presented with their flag this Saturday during a ceremony held at the foot of the monument to José Martí in Havana, with Miguel Díaz-Canel leading the event.
According to the state media JIT Cuban Sports, Díaz-Canel presented the national flag to two high-performance athletes: the three-time world champion in triple jump Leyanis Pérez and the Olympic champion from Tokyo 2020 in Greco-Roman wrestling Luis Alberto Orta.
Leyanis Pérez, who holds world titles in indoor and outdoor track, described the moment as unforgettable: “It is a unique experience to carry my flag. This is the first time I have this responsibility, which fills me with pride and inspires me to be even more committed. Yes, in Santo Domingo I will compete with the same interest and passion that I do in the Diamond League, a World Championship, or the Olympic Games.”
In the same ceremony, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz awarded the five-time Olympic wrestling champion Mijain López Núñez the distinction of "Country Brand Ambassador," making him the first Cuban to receive this recognition. "I will carry this mandate with the same integrity, strength, and love for Cuba that I put into every competition on the mat. It is an honor that I take on, as always, in the name of my people," López Núñez declared.
The regime dubbed the delegation as "the Centenary of Fidel," referring to the upcoming centenary of Fidel Castro's birth, set for August 13. The General Secretary of the Union of Young Communists, Meyvis Estévez, described the athletes as "the delegation of the 60th anniversary of the glorious event at Cerro Pelado," in reference to the 10th Games in San Juan 1966.
The official rhetoric, however, contrasts with a reality that the regime prefers to ignore: the question hovering over this delegation is not how many medals it will win, but rather how many of its members will return to Cuba.
Cuba registered 504 athletes in 42 disciplines for Santo Domingo 2026, the largest delegation in its recent history for these games, with the declared goal of finishing among the top three in the medal standings and winning around 68 gold medals.
But the delegation is already arriving diminished before departing. On Thursday and Friday, nine of the twelve members of the Cuban canoeing team defected in Montreal, Canada, during the III World Cup and Pan American Championship of Sprint Canoeing, marking the largest defection recorded in this discipline within Cuban sports. Four of them were registered to compete in Santo Domingo.
The pattern is systematic and repeats at every international event. During the 2023 Central American Games in San Salvador, five hockey players abandoned the Cuban delegation during the competition. At the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, 21 members of the delegation did not return on the last day.
Since 2022, more than 100 Cuban athletes per year have left their delegations or broken contracts abroad. In the past decade, the number has exceeded 1,000 athletes who have chosen not to return to the island.
The Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo 2026 will take place from July 24 to August 8, and Cuba aims to replicate or improve upon its third-place finish in San Salvador 2023, where it won 74 golds, 59 silvers, and 63 bronzes. History, however, suggests that the medal tally will not be the only count that matters at the end of the event.
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