The Sydney Olympics are underway without four athletes who should be there.
Long jumper Niurka Montalvo, water polo player Ivan Perez, kayaker Angel Perez and diver Arturo Miranda are not competing because of politics, although that sort of thing is not supposed to happen any longer in a more harmonious international sports world.
None of the athletes, all Cuban defectors, are at the Games because Cuba refused to give them permission to participate. Their crime? They chose to live outside Cuba without government approval, a decision akin to treason in Fidel Castro's communist regime.
Montalvo, the women's world champion, and Ivan Perez fled Cuba for Spain less than three years ago and became Spanish citizens. Angel Perez, who is not related to Ivan, came to the United States in 1993 and became a citizen last September. Miranda defected to Canada.
Under International Olympic Committee rules, an athlete who has competed in the Olympics and changes his or her nationality must wait three years before competing for their new country in the Olympics, World Championships or other major international competition, or receive a waiver from his or her former country. Cuba said no.
Appeals by Spanish, American and Canadian officials fell on deaf ears. Cuba claims the athletes were "stolen" by anti-Castro elements and isn't willing to forgive.
"I'm an athlete and I have dedicated all my life to sports," Montalvo told Spanish National Radio. "Before I used to do the best I could for Cuba, and now my situation has changed and now I do my best for Spain. I stay out of politics."
U.S. Olympic kayaker Peter Newton feels for his teammate.
"The Olympics is about sports, and Cuba is turning this into a political issue," Newton told the Miami Herald. "Angel is our best athlete and should be allowed to compete."
Leave it to Cuba to trample the ideals of fair play and goodwill. The cases of Montalvo, Miranda and the Perezes are the latest examples of how Cuba and its propaganda machine puts a self-serving spin on every issue.
For years, Havana has downplayed defections by Cuban athletes, sometimes refusing to comment about the reasons for the departures to avoid mixing politics and sports. It's the same type of sidestepping once used by countries in the former Soviet bloc when faced with tough questions.
