Boxer’s Return to Cuba Sets Social Media Ablaze
HAVANA TIMES – In a context where it’s hard to talk about anything other than shortages and blackouts, Cuba took a brief pause this week to open a new debate following the visit of popular boxer Andy Cruz.
Social media exploded over his return to embrace his loved ones. While many applaud the fighter’s decision to come back to his homeland to visit family—regardless of his past—others attacked him over possible ties to the dictatorship or for allegedly taking advantage of the Cuban Adjustment Act.
To put things in context, it’s important to talk about this boxer’s career, which has been brilliant both when he represented Cuba and after he turned professional.
As an amateur, he became the top pound-for-pound boxer on the Cuban team, and backed it up with titles at every level: gold at the 2018 Central American Games in Barranquilla, the 2016 Toronto and 2019 Lima Pan American Games, the World Championships in Hamburg (2017), Ekaterinburg (2019), and Belgrade (2021), as well as the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Soon afterward, he may have felt under-challenged and sought something greater—not just economically, but also in terms of competition—having reached the ceiling of amateur boxing. Disagreements with the coaching staff and with some teammates over his “different” opinions eroded those ties to the point that he was sanctioned.
He was unexpectedly left out of the national team’s professional debut in Mexico and also didn’t compete in the 2022 Playa Giron Tournament (Cuba’s National Championships). In both cases, the official reason given to the state-run press was “disciplinary issues during training.”
In June 2022, Cruz’s life turned into a drama, including a stint in Cuba’s prison system after attempting to leave the island illegally. He was punished within the sports system and later released as a regular citizen, eventually making his way to the United States via the Dominican Republic to pursue a professional career.
Even though he’s had only six professional fights, many already see him as the only serious threat to dethrone US boxers Gervonta Davis (WBA champion) and Shakur Stevenson (WBC champion) in the lightweight division.
Now, after also excelling as a pro, he decided to visit the land of his birth—and as often happens, the controversy reignited over whether politics should be mixed with other aspects of life, such as sports.
Critics claim he gained US residency on political grounds—and they’re not wrong—but to say he’s exploiting the US government is a stretch.
First of all, he didn’t create the law, so he’s not guilty of anything. Second, the reasons he felt persecuted in Cuba still exist. He wasn’t arrested upon return because he didn’t do anything illegal; he left the country like any other Cuban citizen and returned the same way.
When a Cuban athlete leaves a delegation abroad or flees the island illegally, they are automatically banned from returning for eight years. It’s a draconian measure—but a real one. Andy, however, didn’t leave that way.
From US soil, he never spoke out against the Cuban government—unlike other compatriots—probably because he always intended to return for a visit, since his family remains on the island.
One of the most disappointed observers is Dominican journalist Willy Suarez, director of the “Boxeo Cubano” website, who indirectly helped Andy leave Cuba—first by denouncing his arrest and calling for his release, then by helping pave the way from the Dominican Republic toward a pro career.
After learning of Andy’s visit, Suárez applauded his family reunion but questioned whether he had been used. In his remarks, he implied the boxer was complicit with the regime that oppresses its people and even cast doubt on whether Andy was ever imprisoned.
“What I question is the number of lies I was told, because of which I put my hands in the fire… and got burned. That’s what hurts me, and that’s what I question,” the journalist wrote—a recognized voice in the boxing world.
Andy had given Suarez an interview shortly before leaving Cuba, in which he said: “Right now I’m resolving some things, but I’m still training—I’ve never stopped—and I’m planning to write a new chapter in my record and achieve things I haven’t yet achieved in my career.”
Andy Cruz doesn’t have to act like Yordenis Ugas or Robeisy Ramirez, fellow Cubans who have openly criticized the dictatorship—but some people don’t see it that way.
Photos of him smiling happily with family in the western province of Matanzas have sparked controversy and debate. But first, it must be understood that everyone has their own way of seeing life. Leaving family behind is like leaving hostages—they can suffer all kinds of retaliation, and that’s no fable.
Just because some choose to burn bridges doesn’t mean everyone must do the same. Andy may eventually speak out more, especially when his loved ones are safely with him in a free land. But for now, it seems fear of reprisals holds him back—and that needs to be understood too.
In the end, his case is like that of hundreds of thousands of other Cubans who have left the country by other means and later returned to visit. The difference is that Andy’s public profile doesn’t allow him to be treated as just another traveler.
Quite different is the case of another Olympic champion from Tokyo, canoeist Fernando Dayan Jorge, who not only left a delegation training in Mexico in March 2022, but also went on to compete as part of the Refugee Team at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Fernando Dayan made his choice, and that’s valid, but Andy’s choice is no less so. It’s hard to believe that in Miami, Cuban regime repressors walk around freely, yet people want to lynch an athlete who hasn’t harmed anyone.
At 29, Andy Cruz is at the peak of his career, and all this noise can only do him harm.
It is sad to see this treatment of Cruz. There are too many who have left, but love, Cuba who could do much to help their country. Their rejection only hurts Cuba in the long run. This is the downside of the Marxist concept of “dictatorship of the proletariat” that has excluded so many people with potential to contribute to Cuba’s successful evolution. Cruz is no exception.