Eight Cuban athletes who participated in the Pan American Games in Santiago have decided to stay in Chile and seek asylum or refugee status, their lawyer and Chilean authorities said Tuesday.
“There are seven athletes, six women and one man, who will request refuge or asylum,” said Mijail Bonito at the start of the day, without specifying their identity.
Chilean media identified them as six members of the field hockey team and a 400m hurdles runner who won a bronze medal at the Games which ended on Sunday.
The Interior Ministry later said an eighth athlete had joined the request.
“Their primary intention is to stay in Chile,” Mr. Bonito assured AFP, explaining that he had contacted the seven athletes when they had already failed to join their delegation.
“None of them are in Santiago, they are hosted by friends and support groups in three different regions” of the country, he said.
Cuba is going through its worst economic crisis since the fall of the Soviet bloc, with shortages of all kinds and recurring power cuts, leading to an unprecedented wave of migration.
High-level sport is not spared, with nearly 200 athletes who have defected since 2022, including Olympic or world champions, such as wrestler Ismael Borrero, canoeist Fernando Dayan and discus throwing specialist Yaime Pérez.
The Pan American Games are held every four years on the American continent. It is a multi-sport competition in which thousands of athletes from countries in the region participate.
Cuba, a major sporting nation in Latin America, finished fifth in the medal standings of these games, behind the United States, Brazil, Mexico and Canada.