Cuban MLB players show support for protests taking place in Cuba
As historic protests against food and medicine shortages amid the coronavirus pandemic sweep the streets of Cuba, athletes who defected from the island are using their platforms to support protesters in their home country.
It started at the MLB All-Star Game where some players inscribed messages of support on their hats.
New York Yankees pitcher Aroldis Chapman and Texas Rangers outfielder Adolis García wore hats during Tuesday's game with the messages “SOS CUBA” and “Patria y Vida”, which means “homeland and life,” a play on the Cuban Communist Party’s motto of “homeland or death.”
“It’s the first time that I know of in my 33 years,” Chapman said to Our Esquina during batting practice before the All-Star Game. “It’s good that this has happened for the people to rise up. The courage to go out to the streets, that has never happened. That is good."
Chapman wore a "Patria y Vida" shirt Monday night during the Home Run Derby.
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"It’s an event for me because the whole world sees it," Chapman said about the decision to wear the shirt. "I’m sending a clear message to the whole world so they know what’s happening in my country.”
Other Cuban-born players not representing their teams in the All-Star Game used their social media platforms to lend their voices toward the protests.
Mexican league outfielder and former MLB All-Star Yasiel Puig shared a video in Spanish to his more than 800,000 followers.
"We are all one," said Puig, who tried to defect from Cuba several times before successfully escaping the island in 2012.
He pledged to use his foundation, Wild Horse Children’s Foundation, to assist those on the island in need.
"I want to send a greeting and a hug to my Cuban brothers who are fighting for their freedom," Cincinnati Reds pitcher Cionel Pérez said on Instagram. "Enough of the oppressions; we want freedom and that's the message we want to send to (Cuban President Miguel) Díaz-Canel."
Several, like the Toronto Blue Jays' Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and the Houston Astros' Yulieski Gurriel, have used Twitter or Instagram to post messages or share videos to lend their support.
Cuba has been under communist rule since Fidel Castro's revolution in 1959. Cuba is going through its worst economic crisis in decades, which has been made worse by a surge in coronavirus cases coupled with a low vaccination rate.
Thousands on the island, mainly young people, have been protesting on the streets, chanting "We want freedom" and "We want vaccines."
“We are fed up with the queues, the shortage. That’s why I’m here,” one middle-age protester told The Associated Press. He declined to identify himself for fear of being arrested later.
