Cuban Athletes Say Regime Tried to Kidnap Them After Defecting in Dominican Republic

Five Cuban athletes who defected during the recent Central American and Caribbean Games in the Dominican Republic are in hiding, alleging that Cuba’s communist regime tried to kidnap them and force them back to the island, according to a report from the outlet 14 y Medio over the weekend.

The athletes—who were part of Cuba’s delegation of more than 500 competitors at the Santo Domingo games, held from July 24 to August 8—managed to escape and remain in the Dominican Republic, according to the report. One of the athletes, speaking on condition of anonymity, told 14 y Medio that he and his colleagues feared for their safety and were still being hunted by regime operatives.

“We certainly felt we were being persecuted. They sent people here to look for us,” the unnamed athlete said. “They wanted to kidnap us in a country where they have no right to do so.”

The athlete said he was warned by Dominican peers that Cuban officials were still trying to locate him and advised him to stay off social media. He is currently in hiding, according to the outlet.

A Familiar Playbook for Cuban Athletes

For decades, Cuba’s communist government has tightly controlled its athletes, using international sporting events as propaganda tools while subjecting those allowed to travel abroad to heavy surveillance to prevent defections, the report notes. The five who fled in Santo Domingo—fencers Adán Núñez and Hershey Daniela de la Cruz, softball center fielder Yasmani Álvarez, rower Leah Daniel Almeida, and hockey goalkeeper Moisés David Torres Puig—are the latest in a long line of athletes who have risked everything to escape the regime.

Their defection comes roughly a month after nine members of Cuba’s canoeing team abandoned their delegation during a World Cup event in Canada in July. Those canoe athletes were reportedly expected to participate in the Santo Domingo games as well, raising questions about a coordinated crackdown on would-be defectors.

Diplomatic Fallout in Santo Domingo

The athletes’ allegations surfaced just hours after the Dominican Republic expelled nine Cuban embassy diplomats and their relatives from the country. The Dominican Foreign Ministry declined to explain the decision, stating that “no further details regarding this matter will be provided.”

According to Diario de las Americas, the expelled diplomats were allegedly caught conducting espionage and abduction operations against the five athletes on Dominican soil, “as if they had police jurisdiction in the island.” The outlet also reported that the Cuban embassy tried to pressure Santo Domingo into immediately deporting the athletes, abused their security credentials during the sports event, and launched a defamation campaign against the Dominican Republic ahead of the athletes’ escape.

However, the Dominican newspaper El Día, citing unnamed diplomatic sources, reported last week that the expulsion and the athlete defections are unrelated, calling the timing a “simple chronological coincidence.” Those sources said the diplomats were expelled for allegedly abusing their diplomatic status to carry out activities for Cuba’s intelligence and state security services.

“The decision regarding the diplomats stems from a separate process unrelated to the athletes who remained in the country after the Games,” the sources told El Día.

The athlete who spoke to 14 y Medio said he believes the expulsion was directly connected to the regime’s attempts to capture him and his colleagues.

Havana Lashes Out

The expulsion drew sharp condemnation from Havana, which accused the Dominican government of joining a United States-led plot of “subordination.” The communist regime did not comment directly on the athletes’ allegations, but its rhetoric suggested it viewed the diplomatic row as a geopolitical attack rather than a response to its own actions.

Meanwhile, the Dominican daily Diario Libre, citing local police, reported that the expelled diplomats left the Cuban embassy without incident on Monday, except for a photographer who tried to jump a fence to snap a photo of the embassy’s interior.

The athletes’ fates remain uncertain. Their defection and the ensuing diplomatic crisis have laid bare the lengths to which Cuba’s regime will go to prevent its citizens from choosing freedom—and the risks that athletes face when they decide to break away.

Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/latin-america/2026/08/17/report-cuban-regime-tried-to-capture-athletes-who-deserted-in-dominican-republic/