Havana, October 17 (JIT) -- The first part of the Cuban delegation attending the XIX Pan American Games arrived early Tuesday morning in Santiago de Chile.

The Arturo Meriño Benítez airport was attended by the Cuban ambassador to the South American nation, Mercedes Vicente Sotolongo, and a good part of the accredited diplomatic staff of the island.

The group of athletes, coaches and managers, headed by the head of mission Osvaldo Vento Montiller, head of Inder, includes boxers, baseball players, shooters, swimmers, rowers, divers, gymnasts, judo players, weightlifters, racquetball players and badminton players, as well as medical personnel and journalists.

Although the immigration procedures went smoothly, the sanitary protocols established for charter flights delayed the extraction of luggage and the departure from the air terminal until the early hours of a cold morning, with temperatures of around 10 degrees Celsius.

The delegation made stopovers in Santo Domingo and Lima before landing in the sports capital of the Americas these days.

They will begin training at the venue today, once they have completed a few hours of necessary rest.