Moisés David Torres recounts how he orchestrated his dramatic defection in the Dominican Republic
The 21-year-old Cuban field hockey athlete, Moisés David Torres, broke his silence regarding his shocking defection from the Cuban delegation during his visit to the country for the Central American and Caribbean Games. In a revealing interview on the program Esto No Es Radio, the young athlete detailed how he executed a plan he had been developing for months with the support of a local contact he had never met in person before.
The strategy was precise. Torres took advantage of a prior training session to approach his contact, who was in the stands. Under the pretext of looking for ice for a supposed injury, he moved out of his supervisors’ sight. In a blind spot, they exchanged their clothing: the athlete received pants and a coat, while handing over his sportswear to avoid being identified. “I left hooded,” the player confessed about the moment he managed to sneak out of the sports complex.
If they catch you, you are nobody. You cease to be a person. If I go to Cuba right now, I completely cease to be a person.
Moisés David Torres
Precarity and the dream of a different life
Beyond the adrenaline of the escape, Torres exposed the living conditions faced by high-performance athletes on the island. Hailing from Las Tunas, the young man recounted that monthly salaries, equivalent to about 5 or 7 dollars, were insufficient even to cover a basic meal. Furthermore, he denounced the lack of adequate nutrition, the overcrowded conditions in the dormitories, and the constant surveillance to which athletes are subjected when they travel abroad.
The contact who facilitated his escape emerged through social media in 2025. “I explained my situation to him, how difficult it is to live in Cuba, and he told me: if you ever travel here, you are going to stay at my house,” recalled Torres, highlighting the solidarity he received without having had a prior meeting.
Fear of retaliation and the future in the DR
After finalizing his escape, the athlete confessed to having received warnings about attempts to locate him by the authorities, which forced him to disconnect from his devices. For Torres, returning to Cuba is not an option, as he would face charges of treason and sentences of up to eight years in prison. For safety, he maintains minimal contact with his family on the island and prefers to remain silent about the rest of his teammates so as not to compromise their situation.
Although he is currently facing an immigration regularization process and lacks official documentation after his passport was withheld, the young man remains optimistic. His goal now is to resume his university studies in the Dominican Republic, a country where he aspires to build a future far from the hardships and control that marked his years as a high-performance athlete.
