Beyond sport: Lima 2019 and the big Venezuelan reunion
LIMA, August 7, 2019 - Two years after last seeing them, Luiger Pinto, of the national softball team of Venezuela, reunites with two of his five sisters in Peru, during the Lima 2019 Pan American Games. They see each other, hug and can't believe it. Time and distance was a barrier overcome. At least for now...
“Seeing them again was amazing. When I remember the moment I run out of words to express everything I felt,” says Luiger, while paying for something to eat in the athletes' village and says he will soon return to Venezuela, while his sisters remain in Peru.
He knows that time and distance will be protagonists again. However, he prefers to enjoy the moment of having them close and returns to his account of the reunion. "When I talk to them, I feel the desire not to stop doing it, I think it's normal, because we haven't had a face-to-face conversation for two years," says the 32-year-old man and 1.77 meters tall.
Luiger and his sisters have not been together since 2017, when they left Venezuela driven by the social, political and economic crisis that has caused the exodus of more than 4 million Venezuelans as of 2015, this data according to a report published by the Organization of United Nations (UN) last June.
"Things are not right in the country, but Venezuelans are warrior people who somehow find a way to move forward," he says, still dressed in the softball team uniform that did not pass the preliminary round after losing four of five games.
MEETING WITH FRIENDS Just as Pinto was reunited with his sisters, an athlete of the Venezuelan canoeing team did the same with her childhood friends.
“After I published on my social networks that I was coming to Lima to participate in the Pan American Games, my friends here in Peru contacted me and even created a WhatsApp group to agree how they would support me during the competition,” she acknowledges. Like many others, out of fear, she has reservations and asks for her name to not be published, nor her identity revealed.
In reference to a group of eleven friends she has known since she was a child, who she did not see for a year since they emigrated to Peru fleeing the difficulties in their country, as other 768 thousand Venezuelans have done, according to the UN.“I never really thought they would support me, especially because to do so they would have to travel about three hours to get from Lima to Huacho, where the boating competitions are held,” reveals the athlete.
The truth is that her Venezuelan friends made the trip and while she competed they did not stop chanting her name and shouting Venezuela. “I had a very special feeling when I saw them and heard them supporting us. At times I felt like I was competing in my own country,” he says, revealing in his tone that the only memory of that scene still excites her.
The athlete says that after the competition, that day she could again appreciate her lifelong friends. “Between the exchange of words and the hugs, the time with them went quickly. I want everything to be fixed in the country and that we could be together again,” he says, while reviewing the results of the day in the boating, and remember that his team did not reach the top positions of the competition. “From the first day we have felt welcomed and in family, especially because of the presence of so many people of our country in the scenarios where we have activity. There is always a group with the flag and making us a bar,” says the athlete, who does not forget that the night of the opening of the Games, all the spectators in the National Stadium cheered the Venezuelan delegation with a striking intensity.
"It was very emotional, as if we had paraded in front of our own people," he says.
A PARTICULAR HISTORY While the men's and women's 3x3 basketball teams of Venezuela play in search of victory, in one of the Eduardo Dibós Coliseum seats, a 34-year-old man keeps shouting: "Venezuela! Venezuela! Venezuela! "Exclaims Freminder Ortega. Next to him, equally animated, are his father, his wife, his two sisters, a couple of nieces and his brother-in-law. All Venezuelans.
Ortega, who claims to be a graduate in education and basketball coach, arrived in Peru a year ago, and after having worked as a fruit seller for a good time, he got a work permit and is currently an Uber driver, a job that has not prevented him from being part of the thousands of Venezuelans who have supported their compatriots during the Pan American Games.
“For me it is an indescribable emotion to come to support a selection of Venezuela. Seeing these boys give everything for the country, despite the situation we are in, is like receiving new strength to continue believing that everything will change soon for good,” says Ortega, who answers the questions while waiting for the selected Venezuelans to request a photograph with them.
“It's been a long time since I've seen a national team live, it was like I was in Venezuela again," he summarises, longing for the days he taught basketball in his academy, one of many businesses that the crisis took.
These stories endorse an idea: beyond sport, beyond the results, the Lima 2019 Pan American Games have been a reunion scenario for Venezuelans.
“Seeing them again was amazing. When I remember the moment I run out of words to express everything I felt,” says Luiger, while paying for something to eat in the athletes' village and says he will soon return to Venezuela, while his sisters remain in Peru.
He knows that time and distance will be protagonists again. However, he prefers to enjoy the moment of having them close and returns to his account of the reunion. "When I talk to them, I feel the desire not to stop doing it, I think it's normal, because we haven't had a face-to-face conversation for two years," says the 32-year-old man and 1.77 meters tall.
Luiger and his sisters have not been together since 2017, when they left Venezuela driven by the social, political and economic crisis that has caused the exodus of more than 4 million Venezuelans as of 2015, this data according to a report published by the Organization of United Nations (UN) last June.
"Things are not right in the country, but Venezuelans are warrior people who somehow find a way to move forward," he says, still dressed in the softball team uniform that did not pass the preliminary round after losing four of five games.
MEETING WITH FRIENDS Just as Pinto was reunited with his sisters, an athlete of the Venezuelan canoeing team did the same with her childhood friends.
“After I published on my social networks that I was coming to Lima to participate in the Pan American Games, my friends here in Peru contacted me and even created a WhatsApp group to agree how they would support me during the competition,” she acknowledges. Like many others, out of fear, she has reservations and asks for her name to not be published, nor her identity revealed.
In reference to a group of eleven friends she has known since she was a child, who she did not see for a year since they emigrated to Peru fleeing the difficulties in their country, as other 768 thousand Venezuelans have done, according to the UN.“I never really thought they would support me, especially because to do so they would have to travel about three hours to get from Lima to Huacho, where the boating competitions are held,” reveals the athlete.
The truth is that her Venezuelan friends made the trip and while she competed they did not stop chanting her name and shouting Venezuela. “I had a very special feeling when I saw them and heard them supporting us. At times I felt like I was competing in my own country,” he says, revealing in his tone that the only memory of that scene still excites her.
The athlete says that after the competition, that day she could again appreciate her lifelong friends. “Between the exchange of words and the hugs, the time with them went quickly. I want everything to be fixed in the country and that we could be together again,” he says, while reviewing the results of the day in the boating, and remember that his team did not reach the top positions of the competition. “From the first day we have felt welcomed and in family, especially because of the presence of so many people of our country in the scenarios where we have activity. There is always a group with the flag and making us a bar,” says the athlete, who does not forget that the night of the opening of the Games, all the spectators in the National Stadium cheered the Venezuelan delegation with a striking intensity.
"It was very emotional, as if we had paraded in front of our own people," he says.
A PARTICULAR HISTORY While the men's and women's 3x3 basketball teams of Venezuela play in search of victory, in one of the Eduardo Dibós Coliseum seats, a 34-year-old man keeps shouting: "Venezuela! Venezuela! Venezuela! "Exclaims Freminder Ortega. Next to him, equally animated, are his father, his wife, his two sisters, a couple of nieces and his brother-in-law. All Venezuelans.
Ortega, who claims to be a graduate in education and basketball coach, arrived in Peru a year ago, and after having worked as a fruit seller for a good time, he got a work permit and is currently an Uber driver, a job that has not prevented him from being part of the thousands of Venezuelans who have supported their compatriots during the Pan American Games.
“For me it is an indescribable emotion to come to support a selection of Venezuela. Seeing these boys give everything for the country, despite the situation we are in, is like receiving new strength to continue believing that everything will change soon for good,” says Ortega, who answers the questions while waiting for the selected Venezuelans to request a photograph with them.
“It's been a long time since I've seen a national team live, it was like I was in Venezuela again," he summarises, longing for the days he taught basketball in his academy, one of many businesses that the crisis took.
These stories endorse an idea: beyond sport, beyond the results, the Lima 2019 Pan American Games have been a reunion scenario for Venezuelans.
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