MÉRIDA, Mexico – The demand for Attack against Cuban wrestler Mijaín López was dismissed by the Chilean justice system, confirmed to Cuba Diary the victim.
Damián Montes de Oca Iglesias, who filed the complaint on October 24, 2023, explained that “the lawsuit was closed supposedly due to lack of evidence. That’s how justice works in this country. Everything was very fast, to be honest, and the evidence was sent. Not even two months passed and the case was closed at the Prosecutor’s Office.”
The four-time Olympic champion in Greco-Roman wrestling attacked this Cuban resident in Chile for carrying a flag with the phrase “Freedom for Cuba” during the celebration of the baseball tournament of the Pan American Games in Santiago.
“They closed it by force, Maipú is the commune with the most communists in Santiago de Chile,” added the aggrieved party, referring to the place where the complaint was filed.
For her part, Pía Balbontín Díaz, the Chilean lawyer who advised the Cuban, attributed the result to his undocumented status.
“Right now, in Chile, undocumented people are not a national priority, and this boy is undocumented. For the authorities, he is nothing in this country. There is now a very strong migration crisis here,” he told the independent media outlet.
“If the investigation had been carried out, the Prosecutor’s Office would have considered whether to formalize the case. But that would have been difficult, because Chile and Cuba have not signed extradition treaties. It would have been quite complicated for him to be charged here,” he added.
Montes de Oca also expressed his disappointment because the flag bearer of the Cuban delegation to Paris 2024 get away with it.
“At the very least, I expected a ruling that would prevent Mijaín from entering Chile again, or that upon entering national territory he would have to present himself because there was an open case against him. The Chilean authorities did not do their job as they should have, that was very bad institutionally,” he lamented.
Wrestler Mijaín López, four-time Olympic champion in Greco-Roman wrestling, attacked a Cuban resident in Chile for carrying a flag with the phrase “Freedom for Cuba” during the baseball tournament of the Pan American Games in Santiago.
The agression
The incident in question occurred after the clash between Brazil and Cuba, which ended with the former winning four races by two. Members of the Cuban delegation, led by Mijaín López, attacked the young man to take away his flag, attacking him.
Images shared by users on social media showed the moment when the Cuban resident in Chile was beaten by López.
Montes de Oca said at the time that at no time did he shout or say anything against any member of the island’s delegation.
“I didn’t get involved with anyone or shout anything, I was just standing there with my flag. They came at me and he gave me the cookie. They came to give me a cookie without me getting involved with them,” he said.
Mijaín López attended the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile as the “cheerleader” of the Cuban delegation. The four-time Olympic champion decided to withdraw from the competition after not achieving optimal form in his preparation.
