Higinio Vélez, president of the Federación Cubana de Béisbol, dies from COVID

May 13, 2021

In a note published in Jit, it is reported that yesterday, May 12, Higinio Vélez Carrión, president of the Cuban Baseball Federation since June 2008, passed away in Havana.

Higinio battled for days against complications derived from COVID-19, which ultimately caused his death despite the efforts of the specialists who treated him at the Dr. Luis Díaz Soto hospital.

A native of Santiago, born on July 27, 1946 in Songo-La Maya, he came to baseball thanks to his father, who played it on weekends and, from then on, he embraced it with the passion that accompanied him until the last moments of his life.

He played it with ease and, as part of his drive for self-improvement, he showed equal vigor at the then Superior School of Physical Education (ESEF), from which he emerged as part of a third graduation shared with other protagonists of outstanding results.

That learning, enriching his experiences on the field, and the fortitude with which he always responded to the missions he undertook, allowed him to shine as a winning manager in four national series, three selective series and two Revolution cups.

Internationally, he led the teams crowned at the Pan American Games of 1987 and 2003, the world cups of 2001, 2003 and 2005, and the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

Two years later, he also did so with the team that won the runner-up title in the I World Classic, considered a climactic moment in the history of our baseball.

He was head of the National Board between 2007 and 2014, and to the position of president of the Cuban Baseball Federation he added international responsibilities, including that of vice president of the Pan American Confederation.

"I did not ask for these appointments, I have carried them out with total dedication and immense support from my family, without which it would have been impossible," he said a few months ago, clinging to a sense of duty that highlighted his loyalty to Cuba and to Fidel.

His death reaches us days after the national commissioner Ernesto Reinoso also passed away, also a victim of COVID, which requires the baseball family to redouble efforts, committed to the work to which Higinio put his greatest efforts.