Cubans heading to ALBA › World › Granma

La Guaira, Venezuela.–Four letters on their chests, with the pride that only grateful children feel, wore the hundred Cuban athletes who arrived yesterday afternoon at the Simón Bolívar International Airport, in Maiquetía, to compete in the v Games ALBA sports.

This first delegation is made up of baseball, boxing, softball, fencing, cycling and judo athletes, disciplines in which the Greater Antilles aspires to position itself among the top positions, according to José Antonio Miranda, head of High Performance of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation.

The Cuban director highlighted the importance of resuming the event after more than 11 years of hiatus, maintaining the foundational premises cemented by its creators, Fidel and Chávez, in 2005. In addition, he said, this is a fundamental space for preparation for other multidisciplinary events which will take place soon.

Fundamentally represented by young people, Cuba will take part in 24 of the 33 disciplines called by the organizing committee of the regional contest, and the participation of a female boxing team stands out, which, for the first time, attends an international competition.

In the welcoming ceremony, Dagoberto Rodríguez, the island’s ambassador to Venezuela, stressed that this meeting in the fertile land of El Libertador will serve to strengthen the brotherhood between both nations and demonstrate the indisputable validity of the Bolivarian Alliance for the peoples of Our America. .

Today the second group of Cuban athletes should arrive, and on the 20th a third delegation would complete the Antillean delegation.