Should we be happy about the fall of Team Asere?

Havana Cuba. — This Sunday was —I think— a happy day for anti-Castro Cubans, of whom we are the vast majority, both in exile and within Cuba. And note that I am not referring to the crushing defeat (which the Castroites will surely rename as “reversal”) suffered by Team Asere. In short, I regret this failure, because Cuba is much more than the government that it suffers with its well-known fraud, among which its systematic manipulation of sport stands out.

What I have in mind is the clear anti-communist message that our dear brothers in Exile, through Cuban Television, sent to those who, because we live in the Homeland, do not enjoy freedom. I refer to the posters that were behind the hometo the t-shirts with clear anti-Castro content, but, above all, to the compatriot whose prodigious cock allowed her, happily, to reach many of us who watched the game on the captive island.

The astonishing screams of that Cuban made me remember a funny episode from the excellent saga of Colonel Elpidio Valdés, by Juan Padrón. I am alluding to the one in which, before the imprecise notes of a bugle call, one of the Spanish soldiers wonders: “And now what did that guy play?” And a colleague answers: “If you hear it clear, clear: Withdraw!”

Well yes, the anti-communist message of our compatriots in Exile was also heard clearly. And best of all —I express my personal opinion— is that he was not directed against the Cuban baseball players, but against the national tragedy and against some of the great culprits of it. Here I include the demands for “Freedom” and “Patria y Vida”, the expressions directed against the designated president and the shouts —reminiscent of the Mambisa epic— of “Long live Cuba Libre!”.

I think that the slogans against those who on the ground “defended the four letters” would have been counterproductive. It is true that magnificent athletes who reside in our country are systematically excluded from our country’s baseball teams, but who the regime, for reasons known only to State Security, considers “unreliable.”

It is also true that now, given the failure of the “free ball” on the island, Castroism has had to give in and make use of the once “traitors” incorporated into the Major Leagues to the “slave ball.” But some of these are also discriminated against. The mayimbes “cast a black ball” against excellent players living abroad, but who had stood out for making very clear and fair statements against the catastrophic situation in which the current government has plunged the country.

It is no less true that some members of the team missed excellent opportunities to remain silent. This is the case of Yoan Moncada, a Major League player whose clumsy (and unnecessary) departure from the motto “Patria y Vida” promoted the colleague javier prada to make a long series of bitter considerations in these same pages of CubaNet.

But it wasn’t worth lashing out at them. In short, it is not a question of politicians or of great persons responsible for the national tragedy. They are a group of youngsters whose talents lie in hitting and fielding well, throwing the ball hard and accurately, and being quick. It is probable that any expression against them could have provoked the rejection of a part of the residents of the Island. And this, I insist, would have been absolutely undesirable.

Saving the great distances, we could say that something similar happens with this matter that with the late Argentine soccer star Diego Armando Maradona. We know that he was a fool whose insane words served as support and help to the worst dictatorships in Our America, but focusing on it is equivalent to alienating the majority of the Argentine fans. It’s just not worth it.

I insist that the above is a mere disquisition on my part. The slogans and slogans that were seen and heard were clearly aligned against the regime. The weak qualifications of “malicious” of the pro-government narrators were laughable. And I rejoiced for all our compatriots who do not have access to the Internet.

In a very special way, I was happy for the prisoners of conscience. I imagined them together with the common captives who are their companions in misfortune watching the ball game on television (an activity that is sacred in Cuban prisons). I guessed their joy at being able to read and listen to anti-communist slogans like the ones that unjustly landed them in prison.

The ridiculous attempt of the Castro agitators to blame the defeat on the “haters” who did not miss their appointment at the Miami stadium deserves a brief comment. These are the same red propagandists who also try to mischaracterize the activity of their opponents in the aforementioned sports center, branding it as an improper and undesirable mixture of politics with sport.

And let that be said by those who, terrified by the prospects of a high abstention or a vote of punishment, took advantage of the minutes between one and the other! inning to urge citizens to go vote next Sunday!

The same ones that have taken the people from Havana on foot from their study and work centers, so that they serve as a troupe in a ridiculous massive reception to “Team Asere”! A reception that —they believe in their infinite mistake— could serve to partially reverse the rejection of the bulk of the citizens, which is likely to be revealed in the resounding communist failure in the voting on Sunday the 26th.

OPINION ARTICLE
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