Mario Miguel Chaoui defected May 6, minutes after a team of ballplayers from three Cuban universities arrived at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to play a game with St. Thomas. In an interview published Tuesday in the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, Chaoui said his life as a college freshman studying economics at the University of Havana was not altogether unpleasant, but he yearned for something more.
Baseball is a way to see something new, a chance to play in another country.
Although he had dreamed about playing baseball outside Cuba, Chaoui insists his defection was not planned. That decision came when his great-uncle Arturo Espina showed up at the airport and persuaded him to go to Florida, Chaoui said. The second baseman said he hasn't talked with them since he defected. In Miami, he has found a new home. His goal is to play major league baseball.