International
Cuban women, finally, in boxing ring
| By AFP | Carlos Batista |
With a strong right jab to the face of her opponent, Elianni Garcia Polledo on Saturday won the first official women’s boxing match in sports-crazed Cuba.
“It is a historic result for Cuban boxing,” said one of the judges over the loudspeaker when announcing the “unanimous” decision for Garcia, from Havana province, over Reynabell Grant, from Guantanamo. Both are 27.
Dressed in red and shorter, Garcia tirelessly landed powerful blows with both hands that hit her opponent’s face, shoulders and abdomen several times.
That is, until the decisive blow, in the third round, left Grant down for the count and ultimately decided the fight.
It was the beginning of the first official women’s boxing program, something that many women and authorities of this sport expected in Cuba, an island that boasts 80 world boxing titles and 41 Olympic gold medals in boxing, including the legendary Teofilo Stevenson.
Finally, Cuban sports authorities gave a green light for women on December 5.
“This is a moment that we have been preparing for, for several years,” Alberto Puig de la Barca, president of the Cuban Boxing Federation, told AFP.
In the end, there will be 12 females — two for each division, which will be the preselection of the team for the Central American games in San Salvador, in August 2023 and other international events.
“She (García) just kept working on the offensive, looking to shorten the distance,” Raul Fernandez, 55, one of her trainers, told AFP at the end of the fight.
Garcia, who says she came to boxing from athletics, now looks optimistically at her future in boxing.
‘Bittersweet’
“I have a bittersweet feeling, because I cannot represent Cuba,” Namibia Flores told AFP. At 46, she is six years older than the age maximum in this sport.
But she can be there outside the ring: “Right now, I am the only trainer and I was one of the first girls who is training since 2006,” she says.
At 70 years old and already retired, Nardo Mestre could not miss this moment.
He was the trainer of Flores and many other girls for nearly 30 years, when, he remembers, Alcides Sagarra, the father of the Cuban Boxing School, arrived one afternoon suggesting the need to train women.
So “it was never approved. Now it was authorized and I am already retired, but proud because five of the girls that I trained are here today,” he told AFP.
Cuba has had female representation in all sports, including weightlifting and wrestling, since 2006, but the last bastion of “sports machismo” long was insurmountable: letting women box.
Women’s boxing is now practiced in 187 of the 202 member countries of the International Boxing Association (IBA).
Women made their debut at the London 2012 Olympic Games, with three divisions.
It has yet to be determined if Cuba could be represented by its women in the next Boxing World Cup in Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan, next May.
International
Four suspected PCC members killed in Police shootout in Florianópolis
At least four armed men, allegedly linked to an organized crime group, were killed Sunday night during a shootout with police officers at Ponta das Canas beach on the island of Florianópolis, capital of the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, local media reported on Monday.
According to the Santa Catarina Military Police, one of the men killed was a native of the state of São Paulo (southeast) and identified as a leader of the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), a gang that controls drug trafficking in the Papaquara community in northern Florianópolis, one of Brazil’s most popular tourist areas.
Police said officers were conducting a patrol in the Ponta das Canas neighborhood when they noticed a man entering a house in a hurry, raising suspicion. Upon entering the residence, they encountered four heavily armed individuals.
During the police operation, one of the suspects reportedly attempted to seize an officer’s rifle, triggering the exchange of gunfire. “Faced with the imminent threat and the criminals’ high firepower, the officers responded to stop the aggression,” the Military Police said on social media.
International
U.S. uses $4.65 billion in emergency funds to sustain SNAP benefits amid shutdown
The U.S. government will use $4.65 billion from an emergency fund to finance payments under SNAP, the country’s primary food assistance program, covering roughly “50% of benefits for eligible households,” according to a Department of Agriculture official in court filings.
The administration, however, does not plan to make up the funding shortfall through other resources, as noted in documents submitted to a federal court in Rhode Island.
This announcement follows a federal judge’s order in Providence — one of two issued last week — requiring the government to tap emergency funds to ensure the program remains operational.
The Trump administration argues that SNAP is running out of money amid a month-long federal government shutdown, triggered by a budget standoff between Democrats and Republicans who continue to blame each other for the crisis.
President Trump said on Friday that he was willing to release the necessary funds if the courts required it and emphasized that he does not want “Americans to go hungry.”
Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader in the House of Representatives, accused Trump and the Republican Party on Sunday of “weaponizing hunger” during the political dispute.
International
U.S. strike in Caribbean kills three suspected drug traffickers
A U.S. strike on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel in the Caribbean killed three people on Saturday, according to Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth, marking the latest in a series of attacks in international waters.
The United States has deployed ships to the Caribbean and sent fighter jets to Puerto Rico as part of a large military force that Washington says is aimed at curbing drug trafficking.
“This vessel, like all the others, was known to our intelligence for being involved in illicit narcotics smuggling,” Hegseth stated on X. “Three narcoterrorists were aboard the vessel during the attack, which took place in international waters,” he added.
Experts argue that the attacks, which began in early September, amount to extrajudicial executions, even if the targets are known traffickers.
Washington has yet to publicly provide evidence that the targeted individuals were actively smuggling drugs or posed a threat to the United States.
Hegseth said the U.S. would continue “hunting… and killing” suspected traffickers. He also shared video footage of the strike, showing the vessel being hit and engulfed in flames. As in previous videos, sections of the ship were blurred, making it impossible to verify the number of people on board.
The United Nations called on Friday for Washington to halt its attacks.
Four suspected PCC members killed in Police shootout in Florianópolis
U.S. uses $4.65 billion in emergency funds to sustain SNAP benefits amid shutdown
U.S. strike in Caribbean kills three suspected drug traffickers
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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