The Provincial Directorate of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER) in Camagüey rejected the allegations regarding the abandonment of former world boxing champion Bernardo Comas Aguilera this Thursday, but did so without presenting any concrete evidence or announcing measures to address the deficiencies faced by the athlete, according to an investigation by CubaNet.
The statement, signed by provincial director Iosvanis Omar Urizarri Socarrás, was released one day after CubaNet published an interview with the mother of the former boxer, who described an extremely precarious situation in their family home. The case of Comas, 65 years old, recognized as a Sports Glory of Cuba and suffering from senile dementia, had gained public visibility in recent days.
The state agency stated in its statement published on Facebook that it "has maintained constant support, providing assistance and recognition" to the former athlete, and affirmed that it has "records and evidence of the actions taken, which include visits, medical assistance, institutional support, and public tributes."
However, INDER did not provide those records nor respond to the most pressing questions: whether the leaks in the house will be repaired, how medications for Comas' senile dementia will be ensured, and what happened to the payments for his gold medals that the family has been requesting for some time.
The mother of the former boxer, his primary caregiver, had described to CubaNet a reality that contrasts with the official version. "When it rains, I don't sleep. We have to hurry," she said, explaining how she has to move the furniture to find a dry spot where her son can rest. Regarding the appliances, she was emphatic: "Nothing works here. Neither the refrigerator, nor the washing machine, nor the fan, nothing."
The family survives on 8,000 Cuban pesos monthly from the retired boxer and 3,000 pesos from the mother's pension, an income that she herself described as insufficient: "What will that be enough for? It’s not enough for anyone to live on."
Regarding the medications for treating her child's illness, the woman was equally straightforward: "There is no medicine for that type of illness here." And concerning the promised payments for her medals, she reported that she had been informed they were available, but "so far, they haven't paid anything." As for the institutional visits that INDER claims to have made, the mother acknowledged that they only began after the case was made public.
The reaction on social media to the organization's statement was largely skeptical. One user directly asked if INDER would address the housing situation. Another demanded clarification on the payments for medals. A third person questioned whether the champion's mother was a liar, stating that they believed her over the institution. Another comment noted that institutional support seemed to be limited to visits without practical consequences, and one more user requested that at the very least, they bring a meal to the champion and his mother.
Comas won the amateur world title in the 75 kilograms category in Munich 1982, knocking out Finnish fighter Tarmo Uusivirta in the third round of the final. In the semifinals, he had defeated American Iran Barkley, who would later become a professional world champion. The Camagüey boxer also won gold at the Pan American Games in Caracas 1983, and some sources indicate he accumulated an amateur record of 203 wins in 234 bouts before retiring in 1987.
The case fits into a documented pattern of neglect regarding Cuban sports legends. At the end of September, the wife of Olympic champion Andrés Aldama —aged 70, suffering from dementia and diabetes— reported a similar situation in Matanzas. In March of this year, former boxer Gaspar Casamayor was seen begging for money on the streets of Santiago de Cuba, and in October 2025, former athlete Aleida Palomo was reported to be sick and begging in that same city.
Despite these accumulated cases, the national commissioner for Athlete Support at INDER, Wilmer Lewis Calvo, denied on the television program Mesa Redonda in February 2025 that the sports heroes were abandoned, claiming that there are institutional support structures in place. The cases documented by the independent press systematically contradict this official version.
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