Cuban Journalist Deserts in London

Luis Lopez Viera

HAVANA TIMES — Journalist Luis Lopez Viera on Tuesday ducked away from the official Cuban delegation that participated in the Olympic Games in London and applied to British authorities for asylum.

“Today [Lopez Viera] presented himself to the Border Agency seeking political asylum,” said an anonymous source in London close to the journalist, reported the Café Fuerte website. This makes Viera the only Cuban desertion in London so far.

Viera, 36, was the head sports editor of the Juventud Rebelde newspaper, a frequent panelist on the Mesa Redonda television program and had been a youth political leader.

The news article dismissed the possibility of the journalist having been deported to the island, and explained that the Border Agency is a unit of the British Home Office that receives politically motivated requests from refugees.

On Wednesday there was also announced the presumed desertion of a Cuban team player who participated in the Women’s Baseball World Cup in Canada. Up until then she had been officially considered as “missing.”

Recent Posts

Martinelli’s Stand-In Jose Mulino Wins Panama Presidency

Jose Mulino replaced former President Ricardo Martinelli, who has asylum in the Nicaraguan Embassy after…

Despair Over Not being Able to Control Fall of the Cuban Peso

The Cuban government accuses the independent media "El Toque" of influencing more than its economic…

Who Silenced Nicaragua’s Courageous Bishop Rolando Alvarez?

Ortega and Murillo were never able to scare Rolando Alvarez into silence or get him…

In order to improve navigation and features, Havana Times uses cookies.