This Monday the young Kiele Alessandra Cabrera paralyzed the game between Cuba and Venezuela, during the Pre-Olympic Tournament of the Americas. She jumped onto the field with a poster that summed up the feelings of an entire country: “Cuba Free.”
Kiele Alessandra is Cuban-American and 23 years old. She is a graduate of Florida State University and from exile supports the fight against the dictatorship on the island. Yesterday she paralyzed both shores with her forceful message.
On conversation with reporter Javier Díaz, from Univision 23, the activist commented that a few days ago she remembered the game between the Cuba team and the Baltimore Orioles in 1999, where something similar to what she starred in happened, and she understood that that was the only way to really capture attention.
“I saw that someone was going for a ball and something in my mind said, ‘Now is the time, go run.’ And I started running. I kept going and I didn’t look back”, she confessed about how she found the occasion to enter the baseball field.
“I was very nervous, but I was not afraid, because I know it was a very necessary thing… In this free country (USA) they arrest me and then I have the possibility to defend myself; here in this country there is justice, so no, I was not afraid”, she assured.
Regarding the reaction of the Cuban and Venezuelan players, she assured that she saw them surprised. She was prepared for someone to physically attack her, but “they gave me a face that they were accepting what I was doing. There were two Venezuelan players who were excited and I know they were with me and with the message that I was giving to the public.”
Kiele Alessandra Cabrera was taken away by the authorities at the scene, but until the moment of the interview she had not filed charges against her. According to her, they only prohibited her from returning to the stadium.
The young woman left this message for Cuba: “Do not be afraid, because you have nothing but one life and we have to live with courage and honesty, and we have to speak the truth about what is happening in our country.”
During the match between Cuba and Venezuela there were many demonstrations against the Castro dictatorship and its designated president, Miguel Díaz-Canel. Posters of “Homeland and Life” were everywhere.
Florida Police also detained the defender of the Castro regime Edmundo García. He was received at the stadium with loud boos from Cubans living abroad.
The Cuban Baseball Federation sent a letter to the World Baseball and Softball Confederation to demand action against the “provocations” that occurred this Monday.
The FCB “considers it unacceptable that characters contrary to the spirit of a sporting event attempt against the concentration of the team that represents us in the pre-Olympic tournament based in Florida, United States.”