Two journalism students in Chile narrate the desertion that occurred during the 2023 Parapan American Games in Santiago.
14ymedio, Havana, 5 August 2025 — “I’m in a taxi and I’m escaping,” was the brief phrase Yunerki Ortega Ponce, a blind Cuban swimmer, told his mother over the phone after escaping from the Parapan American Games in Santiago, Chile, in November 2023.
Now, the report that recounts that flight, Escape in the Dark: The Story of the Blind Parathlete Who Deserted During Santiago 2023, published by Diego Portales University, has been nominated as a finalist for the Inter-American Press Society (IAPA) International Prize in the category of University Journalism.
Written by Francisco González and Juan José Leyton, the text accurately reconstructs the voluntary flight of Ortega Ponce, a Paralympic swimmer from the island who decided to leave the Cuban delegation.
He was the last of at least eleven Cuban athletes who deserted during that edition of the Games in Chile.
The report describes how Ortega, diagnosed with retinosis pigmentosa, came to compete in the S11 category and finished fifth in the 50-meter freestyle. He was the last of at least eleven Cuban athletes who deserted during that edition of the Games in Chile -among them members of the women’s hockey, rowing, handball and athletics teams- and his defection generated a police complaint for “alleged misfortune” before the Carabineros de Chile.
According to the report, his escape was planned with the support of a Mexican athlete friend and a lawyer in Chile. He left the Villa Panamericana in the early hours of November 19 and walked with all his belongings to the National Stadium. He was then taken by sympathetic supporters to the home of a compatriot and began the process of political asylum with attorney Mijail Bonito Lovio.
“God, don’t let them catch me, because if they grab me that will be my end.”
The text highlights the voice of Ortega, who expressed fear and determination: “God, don’t let them catch me, because if they grab me that will be my end,” in reference to possible reprisals in Cuba. It also describes his humble origin in Ranchuelo, his sports career, and the contrast between his international achievements and the lack of state support on the island.
Legislative recognition in Chile is also part of the story. In July 2025, the Chilean Senate unanimously approved granting citizenship by way of grace to Ortega, following a proposal that received support in the Chamber of Deputies in April of the same year. This institutional support helped his integration into sports in Chile. Now he is training for the paratriathlon with Venezuelan Miguel Brito as his coach and guide, with the ambition of representing Chile at the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.
A system that rewards athletics, but marginalizes socially
The article, nominated for the Spirits International Prestige Awards (SIP), balances the chronological reconstruction of desertion with a human perspective and contextualizes the Cuban reality: a system that rewards athletically, but marginalizes socially. Ortega, a seven-time Parapan American medallist, faced obstacles in his country that led him to seek ansylum and a new citizenship in Chile, where his talent can find dignified conditions and a renewed projection.
In this sense, the journalistic work of the UDP not only exposes an individual story of escape and reinvention but also a broader phenomenon: the multiple desertions of Cuban athletes at recent international events. The narrative combines direct testimonies, logistical reconstruction and political analysis, which explains its inclusion among the finalists for the SIP competition.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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