Moisés David Torres, goalkeeper of the Cuban national field hockey team, shared how he managed to escape from the delegation of the island during the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo and explained why he decided to give up his sports and academic career to stay in the Dominican Republic.
“Returning to Cuba would mean imprisonment for me,” stated the 21-year-old in an interview with the program “This Is Not Radio”, aired this Monday on ALOFOKE FM 99.3.
Natural from Las Tunas, Torres was the first Cuban athlete to leave the delegation during the sporting event on July 24.
The athlete described a reality characterized by insufficient salaries, inadequate nutrition, and long periods away from his family, despite being part of the national team.
"They pay us 3,500 pesos when the minimum cost of a meal can be 2,000 pesos, 1,000 pesos," he claimed.
According to his account, he trained for about four hours a day without receiving adequate nutrition to compensate for the physical effort. Furthermore, he lived in a shelter in Havana, about 14 hours of travel from his family, whom he could only visit during certain times of the year.
Torres stated that he was sharing accommodation with 23 other athletes, confined to just two rooms.
She had been practicing hockey since she was 12 years old and was in her fourth year of Physical Education, but she decided to leave behind even the possibility of graduating. "I preferred to be here rather than being a graduate or attending university," she said.
Thus, he escaped from the Cuban delegation
Torres revealed that he had been preparing for his departure for months. Since 2025, he had been in contact via WhatsApp with a Dominican citizen who had offered to help him and provide accommodation.
On July 24, he took advantage of the delegation's attention being focused on a friendly women's match between Cuba and the Dominican Republic.
To evade surveillance, he claimed he pretended to have received a blow during training and asked for ice. Then he faked leaving the stadium to dispose of it.
There, his contact was waiting for him. Torres changed his clothes and both left the place in a vehicle requested through an app.
"I seized the moment and left," he summarized.
After escaping, individuals associated with Dominican hockey warned him that they were looking for him and advised him to disconnect and avoid being located.
The young man also reported that before leaving the delegation, he observed a Cuban dressed in a Puerto Rican uniform. Torres interpreted his presence as part of the surveillance set up around the athletes, although he did not provide any evidence to confirm the identity or role of that person.
"I completely cease to be a person."
The hockey player asserts that returning to Cuba is not an option.
"If I return to Cuba, prison is what I face. Because there is a penal code that defines it as treason to the homeland. What could they sentence you to? Eight years in prison. That is the fear of going back to Cuba," he stated.
Beyond any potential criminal consequences, Torres expressed fear of the impact of living under surveillance and reprisals again.
"If I go to Cuba right now, I would completely cease to be a person," he stated.
Currently, he is in the Dominican Republic without his passport, which he reported was left in the hands of the Cuban delegation upon his arrival in the country. He also has limited contact with his family due to fears of reprisals. Days after his departure, his brother publicly requested help.
The official Oscar Sánchez Serra, director of the state newspaper Jit and representative of the Cuban delegation, attempted to downplay the situation following the revelation of the escape, presenting it as a personal decision and claiming that Torres had traveled "guaranteed by the Cuban government."
The testimony now provided by the athlete reveals a very different reality.
Torres was not the only one who decided not to return. At least five Cuban athletes left the delegation during the Santo Domingo Games.
The Dominican government also ordered the expulsion of nine Cuban diplomats, a decision that some media reports linked to allegations regarding supposed surveillance activities against athletes who left the delegation.
Amid the uncertainty regarding his immigration future, Torres left a message for the family that remains in Cuba: "Let them keep moving forward, for there is a son here who will fight for them."
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