SAN LUIS POTOSÍ, Mexico.- The legendary Olympic champion of Greco-Roman wrestling, Mijain Lopezpaid tribute to dictator Fidel Castro at a public event during the reception that the regime had prepared for the Olympic athletes upon their arrival in Havana.
On the esplanade of La Piragua, in the capital’s Vedado, the Olympic athletes were welcomed by numerous Havana residents and were entertained at an event hosted by actors Clarita García and Raúl Lora.
The historic five-time Olympic champion, Cuban Mijaín López, on his return to the island as a hero, remembered Fidel Castro on the 97th anniversary of his birth and expressed his support for the continuity of the Revolution.pic.twitter.com/1feu6weC9Z
— Anibal Garzon (@AnibalGarzon) August 14, 2024
The delegation’s flag bearer and five-time Olympic champion had to address the public and in his triumphant speech he did not fail to celebrate Fidel Castro.
“We are two, three minutes away from a birthday “This is very special, of our undefeated commander Fidel Castro Ruz. I believe that with our presence here, we are reaffirming all the continuity that he left here in this country. And we are happy to come here and represent our people, today, tomorrow and always,” said the staunch defender of the regime, at an event that clearly sought to coincide the arrival of Cubans to the country with Castro’s birthday.
So dear to the regime, the Cuban wrestler, who was awarded a Mercedes Benz years ago for his Olympic feats, professes his affection for the Cuban rulers without hesitation.
At the end of the historic fight in which he faced his former boxing partner, Yasmani Acosta, he spoke by phone with Miguel Díaz-Canel, who congratulated him on the victory.
“You have shown that you are a Cuban and an exemplary revolutionary,” said Díaz-Canel; “It will continue to be so!” Mijaín responded to the ruler. “You are a mambi,” stressed the representative of the regime.
The welcome of the champions
Olympic medalists, coaches and the entire delegation that attended the event in Paris were “entertained” upon their arrival from Europe, with a few “cucumbers” of syrup?, refined rum and a portrait of Fidel Castro.
On a day as significant as Tuesday the 13th (historically associated with bad luck), coinciding, moreover, with the birth of the dictator Fidel, Cubans, possibly with jet lag and without having had time to share with their family, they were “celebrated” by their neighbors.
Forced to smile, take photos, listen to songs sung by their neighbors, watch children dance, pose next to a president of the CDR, the members of the group participating in the sporting event also had to receive a picture with a collage of Castro’s face.
Olympic athletes, after long days of physical effort, receive cheap rum and cake with meringue on top (with wheat flour?) and pose with a background of chains, flags of the CDR, others with the name of Fidel, a few deflated balloonsand the entire committee.
It seems that the regime has done it right this time: a meaningless commemoration that could have been completely empty was made to coincide with a celebration of the champions in order to, at least, gather a handful of neighbors for photos. In the process, they justify the batches of cake in a country that does not have flour to make the bread for the basic basket.
A postcard of decadence: the unfortunate “party” for the Cuban Olympics is the expression of the debacle of the Cuban state sports system, which is, ultimately, one more consequence of a dying regime.
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