Great articles in USA Today about Maykel Galindo, who was a player on the Cuban national soccer team. He defected in Seattle, Washington in 2005 during a tournament.
A couple of observations:
For the uninitiated, notice how the Cuban government treats its slaves athletes:
“They couldn’t even leave their rooms,” says Alex Zahajko, a Seattle-area high school teacher and soccer coach who worked with the team as a Gold Cup volunteer. “The coaches kept all the keys.”
One thing I don’t understand is why the governing bodies of these sports and these tournaments and our local and federal governments allow this sort captivity to occur within our country. Everyone has the right to move around inside this country, apparently, except Cuban athletes.
The other thing is that it’s easy to say that this guy was simply trying to get rich by going pro. Not so if you believe his account:
Meanwhile, Galindo pondered his next step. He says he just planned to work his way to Miami and find a job, maybe washing dishes.
God knows he’s not the only Cuban who has escaped Cuba’s “superior” health care system with the hopes of washing dishes and being among the uninsured in the United States.
Great link, and thanks for not bashing soccer. Cuba almost always plays the Gold Cup. Miami is always a host city, but the organizers make sure Cuba is put in the groups that don’t play in Miami. Every Gold Cup you get a couple, 2-3 that defect. There is also a soccer player, Zambrano I think his name is, that made his home in Canada, that defected some years back.
UPDATE
Galindo scored two last night against David Beckham and the LA Galaxy