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Cuba Will Not Attend Central American Games in Puerto Rico

CUBA, Feb 26, 2010. -  The Cuban Olympic Committee (COC) announced on Friday that the island will not attend the Central American and Caribbean Games scheduled for July 17-August 1 in Puerto Rico.

In a communiqué released on Friday, the COC said it was forced into the decision by the “failure to meet demands fairly presented to organizers of the event several months ago.”

“We have publicly recognized the permanent and tireless efforts made by the Puerto Rican sports authorities and their people, but the response given by the US Government to these efforts have only been silence and documents written in completely ambiguous terms,” the COC communiqué reads.

After recalling that Mayagüez obtained the venue of the Games during the Extraordinary General Assembly of the Central American and Caribbean Sports Organization (ODECABE, by its Spanish acronym) held in Havana in May 2004 with 22 votes in favour and 16 against, the document adds that the International Olympic Committee and National Olympic Committees, as well as the different sports institutions, organizations and federations, and the world community “should take note” of this incident and “analyze if a country whose foreign policy is used to violate international law and as an aggressive element, should be granted the venue of any international sports events at all.”

Cuba’s demands included “equal treatment” for its delegation to that given to all other participating countries and “security measures to avoid pressures and provocations.” Cuba also said that it would not accept its delegation receiving a discriminatory treatment reserved for citizens from countries that Washington labels as state sponsors of terror, a category arbitrarily given to Cuba by the US Government.

“Cuba has only been demanding its rights as a member country of ODECABE. Any other venue of the Central American and Caribbean Games would have guaranteed them without any difficulties. However, Mayaguez, although it has tried, has not been able to guarantee these conditions because Puerto Rico, as a Free Associated State, depends on the US Government and it is governed by the US federal laws,” the text reads.

The Central American and Caribbean Games are the oldest regional games of the world. Cuba has dominated the event since the 1970 Games topping the standings on seven occasions and winning a total of 3,071 medals (1630 gold, 825 silver and 616 bronze). (Cubaminrex - acn)

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