Bernardo Comas, amateur boxing world champion in 1982 and an iconic figure in Cuban sports of the 80s, suffers from senile dementia at the age of 65 and lives in a house with leaks in Camagüey, under the care of his elderly mother and without access to medications or basic appliances.
This was documented by a visit from Cubanet to the home of the former boxer this Wednesday, where the media spoke with the athlete's mother.
The woman described a situation that worsens every time it rains: "When it rains, I can't sleep. I have to run," she said, explaining that during those times she has to move the furniture to find a dry corner where her son can rest.
Regarding the condition of the appliances in the property, she was emphatic: "Nothing works here. Neither the refrigerator, nor the washing machine, nor the fan, nothing. What is here doesn't work."
Comas receives a pension of 8,000 Cuban pesos monthly, while his mother receives a pension of 3,000 pesos. When asked if that amount is sufficient to cover the needs of the former athlete, the response was clear: "What will it cover? It's not enough for anyone to live on."
Along with economic hardship, there is also the inability to treat the illness that Comas suffers from. "There's no medicine for that kind of illness here," his mother noted.
Despite the fact that the regime officially recognizes Comas as Gloria Deportiva de Cuba, his mother claims that this distinction has never translated into real support: "Since he has been here, since he retired, the Government has never given him any kind of help."
After the visibility the case gained in recent weeks, officials began to visit the home. "Now, with everything that has happened, they have come," the mother acknowledged.
However, he clarified that the visits have not produced results: "So far, they haven't resolved anything."
The family also reports that Comas has not received payments that he supposedly deserves for the gold medals in his career. A close acquaintance assured them that the money was already available in Camagüey, but the mother refutes this: “He told me, 'The money is already here in Camagüey, it's all set.' But so far, they haven’t paid anything.”
Comas was born on November 14, 1960, and developed his career in Camagüey. His greatest achievement came at the 1982 Amateur Boxing World Championship in Munich, where he won gold in the 75-kilogram division by defeating the Finnish boxer Tarmo Uusivirta in the final.
In the semifinals, he had defeated the American Iran Barkley, who would later become the professional world champion in the middleweight category. The following year, he reaffirmed his status as a continental figure by winning the title at the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas.
The case of Comas is not isolated. Recently, the family of Olympic champion Andrés Aldama reported a similar situation: the former boxer lives in a deteriorated apartment in Matanzas with dementia and diabetes.
Previously, former boxer Gaspar Casamayor was seen asking for money on the streets of Santiago de Cuba despite having the same distinction of Gloria Deportiva, and former athlete Aleida Palomo was reported to be ill and begging in that same city.
In response to this series of allegations, the national commissioner for Athlete Support at INDER, Wilmer Lewis Calvo, denied during the Mesa Redonda that the sports icons were abandoned, asserting that there are support structures in place.
The reality documented by the independent press in Camagüey, Matanzas, and Santiago de Cuba contradicts that version.
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