MIAMI, United States. — Under the rain and without much enthusiasm, the Cubans received Team Asere that participated in the fifth World Baseball Classic.
Upon their arrival in Cuba, the team’s players were honored by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel. Later, they traveled in a caravan some of the main avenues of the capital.
However, the images of the popular reception are far from those of the 2006 World Classic. On this occasion, the Cubans were mobilized in the rain to welcome the athletes.
“With tremendous “enthusiasm” they welcome Team Asere to the island. The dictatorship team received what the dictatorship deserves. Cuba wants freedom and democracy,” Cuban activist Norges Rodríguez wrote on Twitter.
The island’s authorities mobilized workers from state centers and students from different levels of education to welcome the players, although without the enthusiasm of yesteryear.
“Half of the State Security, those gangsters, and the other girls who force them to go to school,” said Cuban filmmaker Ányelo Troya on Twitter.
According to official media on the island, the authorities had planned a caravan that would cover the entire avenue of Rancho Boyeros up to Avenida de los Presidentes. From there they would go to 23rd street to take the Malecón to 12th street, where they would go up to look for 26th avenue.
The journey was to end at the Ciudad Deportiva Coliseum, where the official reception ceremony was scheduled.
According to the digital portal cubadebate“after a tour of the main streets of Havana, such as G and 23 and M, Team Asere arrived at a crowded Coliseum in the Sports City, where the initiatives were not long in coming.”
The official media highlighted that “in the midst of colorful waves from the stands and loud choruses ‘Hey, I’m Team Asere’, the players received the public’s welcome.”
