The Dominican communicator Santiago Matías, known as Alofoke, had a chance encounter with Moisés David Torres, the Cuban field hockey goalkeeper who left the island's delegation during the Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo, and without hesitation, he offered him a job on the spot.
The meeting was captured in a video posted on Instagram that garnered over 82,000 likes and nearly 4,800 comments. In the clip, Alofoke recognizes the young man when he mentions that he is the Cuban who stayed: "You are the Cuban who left, right? God bless you, man." When he asks if he has a job yet and Moisés replies that he does not, the reaction is instantaneous.
"On Monday, let him into the red building. I'm going to give him a job," Alofoke tells his collaborator Damián, who, according to the video, usually stands at the entrance of the media group's headquarters.
But the gesture didn't remain just spontaneous words in front of a camera. Alofoke later confirmed on his Instagram account that he had already consulted with his lawyers to formalize everything: "I've spoken with my lawyers to reach a fair employment agreement, so that with the contract, I can proceed with the application for a temporary residence permit. Cuba can rest assured that Moisés is in good hands."
The "Red Building" referred to by Alofoke is the headquarters of Alofoke Media Group, where its station Alofoke FM 99.3 operates, precisely the same platform on which Moisés Torres shared his story at the end of August, on the program "Esto No Es Radio."
In that interview, the 21-year-old athlete from Las Tunas discussed the conditions that drove him to defect on July 24, becoming the first Cuban athlete to leave the delegation during that sporting event: salaries of 3,500 pesos when a single meal can cost between 1,000 and 2,000 pesos, four hours of daily training without sufficient food, and living 14 hours away from his family in Las Tunas.
Torres also warned that returning to Cuba is not an option: "If I return to Cuba, prison is what I face. There is a penal code called treason to the homeland. What can they impose on you? Eight years in prison."
Until the moment of the meeting with Alofoke, the young man remained in the Dominican Republic without a passport—held by the Cuban delegation since his arrival—and without formal employment. The gesture from the Dominican communicator was celebrated on social media as an act of solidarity that could also provide Moisés with a way to regularize his immigration status in the country.
At least four other Cuban athletes also stayed in the Dominican Republic during the Santo Domingo Games, marking one of the most notable incidents of sports defection in recent years.
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