The Paraguay National Police issued “a preventive alert” to investigate “whether or not there would be a reason to worry.”
Miami, United States. – Four Cuban athletes – three rowers and a handball player – who participated in the 2025 Pan American Youth Games in Asunción departed from their delegation and are sought by the Paraguayan authorities in an alleged case of desertion, He reported Thursday Interior Minister Enrique Riera.
“Apparently it would be a case of dropout,” said the official to announce that the National Police issued “a preventive alert” to investigate “whether or not there would be a reason to worry.” Until Thursday afternoon, athletes “have not yet requested support or asylum” before the National Commission of Recommended and Refugees (CONARE), he added.
The athletes were identified as Félix Puente Batista, Robert Landy Fernández, Keiler Ávila Núñez and Suannet of Naples charity, all of legal age; the first three, rowers, and the fourth, ball. According to Minister Riera, the four “informed the head of their delegation that they would not return to the hotel.”
The Headquarters of the Cuban delegation denounced that the athletes separated from the group when they did tourism on Wednesday and did not return to the hotel. In this regard, according to An AFP reportthe president of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee, Camilo Pérez, said: that “we have to clarify that this does not mean any disappearance, but that they withdraw from the delegation.”
Until the closing of this report, the Cuban authorities had not spoken about the case.
The 2025 Youth Pan American Games are played in Asunción from August 9 to 23, with the participation of more than 4,000 athletes from the continent.
The output of Cuban athletes during international competitions is a recurring phenomenon. AP Remember defections of figures such as the baseball players Aroldis Chapman, Yoenis Céspedes and José Abreu, and the boxer Andy Cruz in 2022. For their part, for their part, AFP He points out that, “according to official Cuba figures from 2023,” that year, almost 190 high -performance athletes deserted, including Cruz himself.
