Cuban athletes begin journey toward a new life
Following in the footsteps of many Cuban athletes before them, seven
soccer players who defected to the U.S. are finding that making their
new lives work isn't easy.
Posted on Wed, May. 14, 2008
BY MICHELLE KAUFMAN
mkaufman@MiamiHerald.com
A Greyhound bus was pulling out of El Paso, Texas, a few weeks ago when
U.S. immigration officers stepped on board and asked for documents.
Three Cuban passengers -- Yenier Bermúdez, José Manuel Miranda and
Yordany Alvarez -- looked at each other nervously. They didn't have U.S.
passports, don't speak English, and where they're from, the very sight
of a government official is reason to feel uneasy.
Bermúdez reached into his backpack and produced a stack of newspaper
clippings that caught the officials' attention.
''Oh, you're those Cuban soccer players who defected in Tampa,''
exclaimed one officer, who turned out to be a soccer fan. ``Bienvenidos
a los Estados Unidos!''
The players sensed then that their days of living in fear were over.
Two months have passed since they and four other Cuban national under-23
teammates bolted from a Tampa hotel during the qualifying tournament for
the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The three ended up in Lake Worth, under the
watch of a former youth coach from Cuba, who let them stay in his house
while they figured out their new lives.
It hasn't been easy, as Yurisel Laborde, a world champion judoka and
gold medal favorite for the Beijing Olympics, is about to discover.
Laborde deserted the Cuban judo team Sunday during the Pan American
Championships in Miami. The team returned to Havana on Monday without
Laborde, who has not made any public appearances but is expected to seek
asylum in the coming days.
Her first few months as an immigrant will likely mirror those of the
soccer players.
They arrived with no money or plans, few family connections -- and most
importantly, no guarantee they'll ever earn a dime playing professional
sports.
The Greyhound was headed to Los Angeles, where the trio would try out
with Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA. They
arrived in California with duffel bags, applications for political
asylum and work permits, and a burning desire for a better life. The
Galaxy gave them a look, and released them after a week. They also had a
tryout with Chivas USA, but were let go after two days.
Two others who defected March 11 -- Loanni Prieto and Erlys García --
remain in Miami and are training with Seleccion Miami, a semi-pro team
that practices at Monsignor Pace High and plays matches on Sunday.
IN LIMBO
The other two, Eder Roldán and Yendry Díaz, defected separately the next
day and have connected with friends in Tampa. They had a tryout with the
Puerto Rico Islanders of United Soccer Leagues, but without work
permits, they remain in limbo.
Prieto and García are sharing a bedroom in the Northwest Miami home of
Lázaro Armenteros, a family friend from García's Arroyo Naranjo
neighborhood in Havana. ''I came here just four years ago, and I'm
supporting my wife and two daughters, so I don't have much to offer,''
said Armenteros, who works for a medical supply company. ``But I cleared
out a bedroom so these young men could have shelter and food on the
table until they get settled. They didn't even have clothes or underwear.''
Prieto's grandfather, who drove the defectors' to Lake Worth, is the
only close relative any of them has in the country.
Prieto left behind a fiancée and young daughter in Cuba. Recently, on
the baby's second birthday, his eyes welled with tears: ``All day all I
kept thinking about was how much I wanted to kiss my daughter . . . how
much I wanted to hear her say, `Te quiero, papi.' I know I had to come
here because this is where I can be free and have an opportunity to make
my life and hers better, but there are moments it's almost impossible to
bear the pain.''
García, Prieto's closest childhood friend, has a 3-month-old infant
daughter in Cuba and says he sees no future for her unless he can help
from here. He and Prieto, close friends since childhood, knew that if
one defected, the other would, too. ''We knew once we were in the car
and on the highway that we had taken a huge step that could change our
future and the futures of our families,'' García said.
Prieto's mother told him recently by phone that Cuban officials had come
to her house and tried to confiscate his medals and trophies and the
telephone he got for being a team member. She turned over the phone but
persuaded them to let her keep the medals.
''As far as they're concerned, we're traitors, we're monsters,'' Prieto
said. ``The coaches drilled into our heads that the United States is
terrible, that it's impossible to make it here, that the Mafia is here
and everyone is violent, that nobody would talk to us. We realize now
that was a big lie. Everyone we have met has extended a hand, offered
advice, wished us well. But it's up to us to do the hard work.''
A friend helped Bermúdez, Miranda and Alvarez schedule the L.A. tryouts.
They had no money or ID to fly, so they bought one-way bus tickets. The
2,900-mile ride took three days and included a breakdown in San Antonio.
''I guess you can say we saw a lot of America,'' Bermúdez said.
They arrived at 5 a.m. on a Monday, ate breakfast and headed straight to
Galaxy headquarters, where they were elated to find themselves on the
same practice field as icon David Beckham and U.S. national team star
Landon Donovan.
Miranda, the goalkeeper, had posters of Beckham and tapes of the
ball-bending English star in his bedroom in Cuba. His father, who had
defected to Spain, sent home Beckham memorabilia.
''I never imagined in a million years that I'd be playing with Beckham
someday,'' Miranda said.
They were nervous and exhausted from the trip when they took the field.
''We were told in Cuba that we couldn't make it in professional American
sports, that the level was much higher, that they were more disciplined
and superior, and for the first few days I think we were insecure, so we
didn't play as well as we can, but then we realized that we're on the
same level as a lot of those guys,'' Bermúdez said.
REACHING OUT
Donovan took particular interest in the three Cubans. He has vivid
memories of going to Germany as a 17-year-old to pursue a pro soccer
career, feeling lost, scared and insecure. He reached out to the Cubans
during the tryout, and they said it meant the world to them.
''I watched the Cuban game against the U.S.,'' Donovan said. ``I
remembered their faces, and it's pretty amazing to me the courage they
have to do what they did. It sounds cliché, but we think we have it bad
and then you see these guys, leaving everything behind for a chance at a
better life. . . . How can you not respect them?''
Even though the three didn't make the Galaxy or Chivas USA, Donovan was
impressed with their skills. ''They did not look out of place at all,''
he said. ``It's tough because they're coming in when all the team
rosters are already established, but if they're patient and keep
working, hopefully they will be given a chance somewhere.''
For now, all they can do is wait. The players were here on a three-month
visa, and must now apply for parole and a work permit before they can
legally work. Miami FC, the local USL club, will not give the Cuban
players a tryout until they have their papers in order.
''We definitely will be interested in seeing those guys,'' said Luiz
Muzzi, general manager of Miami FC. ``Miami is the natural place for a
Cuban athlete to play, but it has to be the right player and the right
circumstance.''
Once they are here for a year, they can seek permanent residency under
the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966.
Meanwhile, Bermúdez, Miranda and Alvarez are practicing with the L.A.
Blues, a semi-pro team that has welcomed other Cuban defectors.
One, Maykel Galindo, who sneaked out of the team's Seattle hotel during
the 2005 Gold Cup, is making $79,000 a year as a starter for Chivas USA.
Lester More and Osvaldo Alonso, who defected during the Gold Cup in
Houston, are playing for the United Soccer League's Charleston Battery.
All have reached out to this group of young defectors, as has boxer Yan
Barthelemy, a Cuban 2004 Olympic gold medalist who defected two years
ago and is training in Miami.
Though the seven defectors are in three different cities and have shed
the Cuban national team uniform, they keep in touch and try to lift each
other's spirits when times seem desperate.
April 13 was one of those times. Armenteros' brother returned from a
visit to Cuba with letters from García's and Prieto's mothers, as well
as video of their baby daughters. Armenteros urged the players to eat
dinner before they opened their packages, but they couldn't wait. They
went into their bedroom, shut the door, read the letters, watched the
videos and wept.
Despite several attempts to get them to the dinner table, the lifelong
friends turned out the lights and went to sleep without eating.
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