Following the circulation on social media of images allegedly showing the three-time Olympic boxing champion Félix Savón searching for food in a trash container, the Cuban chess Grandmaster Lázaro Bruzón published a lengthy reflection in which he denounced the systematic neglect to which the regime subjects its former athletes once they are no longer useful as propaganda.
Bruzón, who emigrated from Cuba in 2018 after two decades competing under the Cuban flag, noted that there are many cases of Cuban sports legends who are now facing critical situations. This issue resonates deeply with him, as he comes from that same world.
“If there was one area where the Cuban system applied its indoctrination most strongly, it was precisely in sports. I also went through all the sports schools. Many of those athletes dedicated their best years not only to the dream of achieving excellence in their disciplines but also to the dream of representing an entire people,” he wrote on Facebook.
The chess player from Holguín stated that the average intellectual level in the sport is different from that of other sectors, and that this difference explains why so many athletes—especially baseball players—turned down million-dollar contracts that would have transformed their lives.
"It also explains why a small and economically precarious island decided to maximize its sports: they needed to project an image of power and turn sports results into propaganda for their political model," he stated.
"All athletes were useful figures while we were producing results. Once retired, the business was over for them. That's how this system works: it recycles people, squeezes souls, and discards those who are no longer useful to its narrative," he wrote.
Bruzón acknowledged that he himself spent two decades supporting that system without realizing it. "I believed I was representing my people, when in reality I was inadvertently upholding a system that has destroyed the nation," he stated.
Finally, he blamed those who have clung to power since 1959 for the harm done to the thousands of athletes, who have been indoctrinated from childhood and used as propaganda. "All part of the same machinery that squeezed us dry and discarded us when we were no longer useful to their narrative."
The case of Félix Savón is particularly symbolic. The boxer from Guantánamo, a six-time amateur world champion and three-time Olympic champion, turned down lucrative offers at the time out of declared loyalty to the Cuban government.
He was arrested in September 2018 for an alleged crime against a minor under 12 years old and is expected to have parole by the end of 2024 after serving approximately six years in prison.
In recent weeks, it has been reported that the former world boxing champion Bernardo Comas, 65 years old, suffers from senile dementia and lives in Camagüey with a monthly pension of 8,000 pesos.
In March, the former boxer Gaspar Casamayor, recognized as a "Sports Glory," was seen begging for money on the streets of Santiago de Cuba. In July, the basketball player Félix Morales Alfonso, 73 years old, was shown in dire conditions in Cárdenas.
Related videos:
Filed under: