José Antonio Miranda, deputy chief of the Cuban delegation to the 24th Central American and Caribbean Games

 Havana, Jun 22 (ACN) José Antonio Miranda, deputy chief of the Cuban delegation to the 24th Central American and Caribbean Games, recognized the efforts of the Salvadoran people and government to salvage the regional multisport event after Panama announced in July 2020 that it was withdrawing as the host of the Games as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In record time, El Salvador took over the preparations to hold the world’s oldest regional sports event.

“These Games do not just belong to El Salvador, but to all of us as participating countries, and we must see to it that they are as properly organized and successful as possible,” Miranda remarked in statements to the press. “The event will make it possible for the 503 Cuban athletes who will compete here to train for the Olympic Games. (…) We intend to be one of the top three medal winners by country, although we are aware that regional sports have made great strides and it will be difficult for us to improve the results of the 2018 Games held in Barranquilla, where we were second behind Mexico.”

Cuba will compete in 365 events and aims to win between 70 and 80 gold medals, he added, with the support of the country’s potential in judo, wrestling, boxing, taekwondo, athletics, shooting, and canoeing. (Source: ACN)