The Cerro Pelado: An historic triumph of Cuban sport and resistance

Images via the PCC

By Katherin Hormigó Rubio, translated from the Spanish

Throughout the country's history, men and women have accomplished great feats to elevate Cuba's reputation. Such was the case of the more than 400 Cuban athletes, who overcame various obstacles for a single goal: representing the island at the 10th Central American and Caribbean Games in 1966, held in San Juan, capital of Puerto Rico. It was one of the greatest achievements of the Cuban sports movement.

The problems began early in 1965. The organizers of the 10th Central American and Caribbean Games in Puerto Rico first planned to hold the event without inviting Cuba. It seemed like a carbon copy of what happened to the Cuban baseball team, which was prevented from attending the World Cup in Colombia that same year.

But the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regulations did not permit such impudence. Nor would our government, led by the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, be intimidated by the US refusal, for we are united to that people by bonds of comradeship that cannot be dismissed in a decree.

All nations in the region were to be invited to the tenth sporting event in San Juan, as stipulated in the Olympic Charter. Four years earlier (1962), provocations in Kingston, Jamaica, had attempted to ruin the performance of our baseball players -- the eventual champions -- amid the revolutionary fervor following the first delegation to participate in a regional tournament since January 1, 1959.

The difficulties intensified in 1966. After incomprehensible detours and delays, the US government agreed to grant visas for Cubans—Puerto Rico is an associated state and would lose its seat if it did not—with an additional obstacle: the procedures would take place in a third country, something our authorities rejected.

Less than a month after the trip began, the delegation obtained visas, but no authorization to set foot on Puerto Rican soil on Cuban planes or ships. "You will only be able to travel on commercial flights from Mexico," the Americans cynically insisted.

The local Organizing Committee ignored the issue: "Cuba is a transportation issue we can't intervene in," they argued days before June 11, the date of the opening ceremony. But that first week of June, all Cuban preparations were in place: the trip would be to San Juan on principle.

On Wednesday, June 8, 1966, the entourage of nearly 400 people boarded planes at Havana airport with the announcement that they would fly to San Juan. Shortly after, they landed in Camagüey and traveled by bus to Santiago de Cuba.

Few knew the final strategy. Fidel, along with a group of collaborators, displayed a discretion, that was decisive by fitting out the cargo ship Cerro Pelado as a passenger vessel, with facilities for the athletes to train during the voyage.

Fidel led this new sporting and political stand: in the face of isolation, Cuba would succeed on its own. In international waters the athletes would demand their right to participate in the world's oldest regional event.

On the deck, all the sports were practiced—cycling, athletics, boxing, swimming, wrestling, judo—and, if necessary, they would swim into the headquarters, as José Llanusa confirmed when reading the Cerro Pelado Declaration (INDER archive, Granma newspaper archive).

"We Cuban athletes know how to act, not only to defend our own rights, but also for the rights of all peoples and for the prestige of sport, which must exist as a link between peoples."

One of the members of the baseball team, the star shortstop of the Industriales, Miguel Antonio "Tony" González Ferrer, champion four consecutive years in the nascent National Series under the direction of Ramón Carneado, recounted his experiences:

“The crossing was very tense, because planes flew overhead, threatening to bomb us. When we arrived, they wouldn't let us in; we were ready to swim. I was sure I would be one of the first to jump in.”

On June 11, 1966, neither U.S. planes nor Coast Guard troops—prepared to seize the ship if it entered jurisdictional waters—were able to undermine national decorum. They landed on barges flying Puerto Rican flags.

Before the opening ceremony at Hiram Bithorn Stadium, they won their first medal by parading in white uniforms and receiving applause from thousands of fans. In the 100m, Enrique Figuerola recovered from his previous fourth-place finish with a time of 10.2 seconds (not a record due to tailwind).

Boxing, fencing, baseball, weightlifting, and wrestling all brought victories, with gold in water polo being the most celebrated. In volleyball, they broke Mexico's winning streak; in baseball they regained the title after a fourth-place finish in 1962.

Cuba finished second in the medal table with 35 gold, 19 silver, and 24 bronze medals, surpassed only by Mexico. It was a testament to the growth of Cuban sports.

On June 29, the “Delegation of Dignity” returned —the title of the book by Fabio Ruiz Vinageras and José Antonio Díaz Rey (Editorial Deportes; ISBN 959-7133-84-9)— which narrates everything that happened before, during and after the 10th Games in 1966, a story of courage and dedication beyond sport.

Filmmaker Daniel Díaz Torres summarized:

“Everyone remembers Cerro Pelado as a feat: facing the greatest enemy, the same one we had faced at Girón, but now on the field of sport.”

Fifty-nine years after that feat, the Cuban sports movement remains under siege from the United States government: visa denials, a blockade on equipment purchases, and a lack of funding are the main impacts athletes are experiencing today.

This work was translated and shared via a License CC-BY-NC