Havana/“I am in a taxi and I am Fushing,” was the brief phrase that Yunerki Ortega Ponce, a blind Cuban swimmer, told his mother on the phone after escaping from the Parapan Americans of Santiago de Chile in November 2023.
Now, the report that that escape tells, “escapes in the dark: the history of the blind parista who deserted during Santiago 2023”, published by the Diego Portales University, has been nominated as a finalist to the International Prize of the Inter -American Press Society (SIP) in the category of university journalism.
Written by Francisco González and Juan José Leyton, the text precisely reconstructs the voluntary flight of Ortega Ponce, a Paralympic swimmer of the island who decided to leave the delegation of Cuba.
He was the last of at least eleven Cuban athletes who defected during that edition of the Games in Chile
The investigation It details how Ortega, diagnosed with pigmentary retinosis, came to compete in the S11 category and ended fifth in the 50 meters free. He was the last of at least eleven Cuban athletes who deserted during that edition of the games in Chile – among them, members of the female hockey team, rowing, handball and athletics – and their dropout generated a police complaint for “alleged misfortune” against Carabineros de Chile.
According to the report, his escape was planned with the support of a Mexican parata friend and a lawyer in Chile. He left the Pan American Village in the early hours of November 19, with all his belongings, and walked to the National Stadium. He was then transferred by solidarity to a compatriot’s house from where he began the political refuge process endorsed by lawyer Mikhail Bonito Lovio.
“God, not to grab me, because if they grabbed me that was the debacle”
The text highlights the voice of Ortega, who expressed fear and determination: “God, who do not grab me, because if they grabbed me that was the debacle”, in reference to possible reprisals in Cuba. It also details its humble origin in Ranchuelo, its sports career and the contrast between its international achievements and the lack of state support on the island.
Legislative recognition in Chile is also part of the story. In July 2025, the Chilean Senate unanimously approved to grant nationality by grace to Ortega, after a proposal that received support in the Chamber of Deputies in April of the same year. This institutional support joined its integration to sport in Chile. Now he trains paratriathlon with the Venezuelan Miguel Brito as coach and guide, with the ambition to represent Chile at the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games.
A system that rewards sports, but socially marginalizes
The report nominated by the SIP balances the chronological reconstruction of the dropout with a human look and contextualizes the Cuban reality: a system that rewards sports, but socially marginalizes. Ortega, seven times Parapanamerican medalist, faced obstacles that led him to seek the shelter and a new citizenship in Chile, where his talent can find decent conditions and a renewed projection.
In that sense, the journalistic work of the UDP not only exposes an individual history of escape and reinvention, but also a broader phenomenon, the multiple defections of Cuban athletes in recent international events. The narrative combines direct testimonies, logistics reconstruction and political analysis, which explained its inclusion among the finalists of the SIP contest.
