[illeracula]

Hello, I am Storm Maxwell and today on Real-life we will be talking with Cristobal Cuevas and his path to the Global Baseball Federation. Cristobal was born in the fifth largest city on Cuba, Santa Clara. Santa Clara is a town of 250,000

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Cuba, lets give you a quick synopsis of the island. Cuba is the the largest island of the West Indies group (equal in area to Pennsylvania), and has an estimated population of 11 million. It is also the westernmost island in the West Indies—just west of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and 90 mi (145 km) south of Key West, Fla., at the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico. The island is mountainous in the southeast and south-central area (Sierra Maestra). It is flat or rolling elsewhere. Cuba also includes numerous smaller islands, islets, and cays.

In 1956, Fidel Castro Ruz launched a revolution from his camp in the Sierra Maestra mountains. Castro's brother Raul and Ernesto (Ché) Guevara, an Argentine physician, were his top lieutenants. Many anti-Batista landowners supported the rebels. The U.S. ended military aid to Cuba in 1958, and on New Year's Day 1959, Batista fled into exile and Castro took over the government.

The U.S. initially welcomed what looked like a democratic Cuba, but a rude awakening came within a few months when Castro established military tribunals for political opponents and jailed hundreds. Castro disavowed Cuba's 1952 military pact with the U.S., confiscated U.S. assets, and established Soviet-style collective farms. The U.S. broke relations with Cuba on Jan. 3, 1961, and Castro formalized his alliance with the Soviet Union. Thousands of Cubans fled the country.

In 1961 a U.S.-backed group of Cuban exiles invaded Cuba. Planned during the Eisenhower administration, the invasion was given the go-ahead by President John Kennedy, although he refused to give U.S. air support. The landing at the Bay of Pigs on April 17, 1961, was a fiasco. The invaders did not receive popular Cuban support and were easily repulsed by the Cuban military.

Russian aid, which had long supported Cuba's failing economy, ended when Communism collapsed in eastern Europe in 1990. Cuba's foreign trade also plummeted, producing a severe economic crisis. In 1993, Castro permitted limited private enterprise, allowed Cubans to possess convertible currencies, and encouraged foreign investment in its tourist industry. In March 1996, the U.S. tightened its embargo with the Helms-Burton Act.

Today Cuba is laid-back communist island. They have a lot of government control. About 120,000 people on Cuba have computers with internet access. All of which has to be approved by the government. With its close proximity to the US many Cubans dream of a different kind of life and try to escape Cuba for greener pastures in the US.

With us today is Cristobal Cuevas, one of those Cubans who successfully escaped Cuba for greener pastures. Cristobal, thank you for coming on our show.

CC: Its nice to be here and to be able to tell the story of my life.

Are you happy with your decision on leaving Cuba? Was it easier or harder than you thought?

CC: Am I happy? Yes and no. I am happy to be playing ball again. Baseball is my dream. But its hard to give up your life and your family back home. Hopefully they will be able to come and be with me. If they don't I may never see them again.

Will you not be allowed back on the Island?

CC: I could go back, but would have to face punishment. Once you decide to run, you can't look back.

Lets get back to your trip off the Island. How did that work?

CC: The driver of the boat is a friend. I was trying to convice my family to come with me, but we our government so much they didn't want to take the chance. We left heading for Florida, but with no lights on the boat we got lost and ended up in the Bahahams. We were truly lucky to make it.

The rumor has it that you wouldn't accept your visa unless the 5 other people on the tug boat were granted theirs as well. Why?

CC: We are all in it together. It would not be fair for me to leave them behind. Turn my backs on them. I wouldn't want them to do that to me. We are all family.

What has the biggest difference been being in the United States?

CC: I don't know how to explain it, but to see more freedom. I can workout when I want to, watch TV, read magazines. In Cuba the press is government regulated, so we can only hear what they want us to hear. Here we have so many options. I am now just learning how to use a computer. But not to take anything away from Cuba. Its a wonderful beautiful country.

Would you go back if you could?

CC: I would only go back if I wouldn't have to give up my life here. I am enjoying it here. The JetHawks have been great to me so far as has the GBF.

Lets go back to your escape. How did this come about?

CC: A while back me and a close friend were talking about playing baseball all over the world. Being upbeat about this and talking about it like it was really going to happen. We were banned from playing baseball.

Just like that?

CC: Yes. No more baseball. I haven't played baseball in a long time, and this is my life...our escape was planned over a 3 month period. We were very lucky not to get caught. The night we planned to run it was raining hard and we knew this was our only chance. My friend, Fernando, who drove the tug-boat took the biggest risk of us all. He had to take the keys of the Tug-boat home with him, and that is almost unheard of. Ecspecially in our environment.

So if he got caught that night you wouldn't of made it?

CC: Correct. I would still be working in the Sugar fields...Once we knew Fernando had the keys all we had to do was get on the boat and get it out of the dock without being seen. Yorba got us into the port and then Yorba and I had to try to push the boat out of the dock. Because we knew once the boat started-up sirens would of sounded. It was tough, but we pushed the boat out. Once we were off the shore enough, Fernando started the boat in low and we moved.

What time did you guys get on the boat?

CC: I am not 100% sure, but it was probably close to 1 am. It was raining and dark, and there was just so much going on. It was one of the most stressful times in my life.

Do you still keep in touch with the other refugess?

CC: Well, my translator Fernando, is the one that drove the tug-boat, and the other guys are all in the Miami area, so no not really. I didn't know them, they were friends of friends.

Now that you are up with the JetHawks do you look back at this experience and has this made you better?

CC: Yes. I think about it my life in Cuba a lot, and that always goes back to that night. The night I chose to leave my family and friends to play baseball. But I know I have lived through that experience, so I am pretty sure I can make it through anything.

Cristobal thank you so much for coming on our show and talking a bit about your experiences. Its truly an amazing story and we will all be watching you as your career progresses.