Father's tale of escape from Cuba inspires University of Miami baseball player

Father's tale of escape from Cuba inspires University of Miami baseball
player
By JORGE MILIAN
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 27, 2009

KENDALL — Listening to his 1-year-old son Harold cry at night for milk
that the family could not provide was more than Alexis Martinez could bear.

So late on the night of Sept. 25, 1991, Martinez stepped off a beach in
Jatibonico, Cuba, and dived into the sea, heading for the U.S. naval
base 10 kilometers away in Guantanamo Bay.

Swimming that distance, 6.2 miles, didn't scare Martinez, then 27. He
had been a water polo star in Cuba since age 12.

But the pools in which Martinez had competed didn't contain the
unforgiving currents of the Caribbean. He also had to contend with the
patrols of the Cuban coast guard, which was known for shooting would-be
defectors. Still, he knew he had to get out of Cuba.

"I couldn't continue living in a place where my son had no future,"
Martinez said from the living room of the home he shares with wife Ivon,
11-year-old daughter Ellen and Harold, now a 19-year-old starting third
baseman at the University of Miami. "I told my wife, 'I make it or I
don't. I'm not coming back.' "

Martinez made it, surprising a group of U.S. military personnel he
stumbled upon after six harrowing hours in the water.

Harold Martinez, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound freshman who has started every
game this season heading into Friday's NCAA regional opener against
Jacksonville in Gainesville, marvels at his father's courage.

"I have a great respect for what he did," said Harold, who emigrated to
the United States along with his mother two years after Alexis found
sanctuary in Guantanamo. "It's something crazy. You have to be pushed to
the limit to do something like that and, even then, most people wouldn't
try it."

Alexis Martinez had attempted to leave Cuba using more traditional
means. But the motor boat he and his wife's uncle were planning to use
was confiscated by government officials.

With that, Alexis began training for his swim to freedom. He told no one
- including his wife and mother - of his plans until the day of his
departure.

"We told him not to go, but his mind was made up," Ivon said.

Alexis was driven to Jatibonico, a fishing town in southeastern Cuba,
and hid in the cave of a seaside cliff for several hours, waiting for
nightfall. At 11 p.m. he left shore, carrying only fins and a fishing knife.

"I couldn't see the hand in front of my face," he said.

Martinez swam out to sea as far as he could in order to avoid patrols
close to shore. He eventually turned toward Guantanamo Bay, swimming on
his back and using only his legs.

The possibility of encountering a shark filled his mind, particularly
when a large school of fish raced by him as if being chased by larger prey.

"It's not easy being in the middle of the ocean at night by yourself,"
Martinez said.

At approximately 5 a.m., he managed to swim ashore, uncertain whether he
was still in Cuban territory or on the U.S. naval base. He scaled a
rocky cliff to find hangars housing American military jets.

Martinez said he was approached by rifle-toting U.S. servicemen who
quick understook that he was seeking political asylum.

"One of them wrapped a blanket around me and said, 'Welcome to the
United States.' " Martinez said. "I got very emotional. I'll never
forget that."

Martinez remained on the naval base for 33 days, unable to communicate
with his wife.

"We thought Alexis was dead," said Ivon, a former synchronized swimmer
who met her husband while attending a boarding school for budding
athletes in Cuba.

Alexis eventually was flown to the USA and lived in Los Angeles with an
aunt. He worked two or three jobs at a time, saving money to buy passage
for his wife and Harold out of Cuba.

Shortly after arriving from Cuba as a 3-year-old, Harold began
displaying signs of baseball prowess. He shocked his parents by blasting
a plastic ball over a two-story house with a Wiffleball bat.

"That's not something you teach," Alexis said proudly. "It's something
you're born with."

A 19th-round draft choice of the Texas Rangers last summer out of Miami
Braddock High School, Martinez chose to sign with UM. He is batting. 279
with nine home runs and 46 RBI.

"It always impresses me when I hear that story," Harold Martinez said of
his father's journey. "What he went through for a better life. That
always motivates me to work hard. You have to do whatever it takes."

Father's tale of escape from Cuba inspires University of Miami baseball
player (28 May 2009)

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