Former Cuban Baseball Player and Manager Who Acknowledged Being a ‘Snitch’ Returns to Havana

Víctor Mesa was manager of Villa Clara, Matanzas and Industriales teams. (Capture)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 11 April 2022 — For four days, former baseball player Víctor Mesa has been in Havana. The former manager of ther Villa Clara, Matanzas and Industriales teams was seen last Friday in “a festive atmosphere” in his “two-story house and strict security circuit,” located in the municipality of Plaza de la Revolución, according to Swing Completo.

Mesa’s presence on the island comes after it emerged, in early 2022, that the United States had denied his application for permanent residence. Among the reasons mentioned were his participation in the Univista TV sports program in July 2020, where he accepted that he was a “communist” and a chivato [snitch]. Those statements generated questions from the Cuban community in Miami.

Swing Completo suggested that Mesa’s presence in Cuba, along with his wife, Eneida Ríos, occurred because his immigration status would be resolved. “It would be unreasonable to imagine that he would enter the Greater Antilles without having a legal document that justifies his stay in the United States and prohibits him from returning.”

However, current immigration legislation in Cuba establishes that people maintain their resident status in the country if they do not exceed 24 continuous months outside the island. A rule that the regime violated in the case of art curator and activist Anamely Ramos.

But Mesa’s case has its peculiarities. Although that 65-year-old Villa Claran’s communist attachment cannot be erased, as when he said he felt “sad, very sad” for the death of Fidel or his words about Raúl Castro: “He does limit his defense of the system.”

As a manager, the controversy accompanied him. In 2017 he was banned for three games after an argument with an employee of the Hotel Bella Habana. And in 2016, the National Baseball Directorate disqualified him for three subseries for insulting referees and the technical commissioner.

As a player, his speed around the bases and his batting stood out. “We are talking about one of the best players in history… he occupies the second historical position in stolen bases with 588,” journalist Andrés Marchante pointed out at the time on the MLB portal Picheos Salvajes.

In 2018, Mesa announced his retirement and the “communist” moved to Miami, from where he began to promote the career of his sons Víctor Mesa Jr. and Víctor Víctor Mesa, who have contracts with the Marlins, the first for one million dollars, and the second for 5.25 million, revealed Radio Televisión Martí.

____________

COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.