Mavys Álvarez, Diego Maradona’s Cuban girlfriend, spoke for the first time: “I couldn’t say no to him”

After Telecast highlight the history that united Diego Maradona with Mavys alvarez, the Cuban with whom he had a romantic relationship during the years he lived in Havana to cure his drug addiction, the journalist Mario J. Penton managed to find the woman. And, for the first time ever, she was prompted to speak in front of a TV camera to recount all that has been going on with the player during the time the couple lasted.

It was Friday September 1, 2000 when, at just 16, Mavys ran away from his mother to cross Matanzas, a town east of Havana. Blonde, thin, with light eyes, she was just another child in the bustle of the city. Corn a man intercepted her to offer her something unheard of: accompany Maradona, who he said was in a deep depression and needed someone to talk to.

“At first, I thought whoever offered this to me was crazy. He was a Cuban. I later found out that he was the hotel’s lifeguard. In the car, a few steps away, he looked at us Carlos Ferro Viera, friend of Maradona. They spent over an hour convincing me that it was important to help Diego, that he was a global figure, a friend of Cuba, and that he was depressed. And I finally accepted“Álvarez said America News, the television news of America TeVé on channel 41 in Miami, which decided to publish the interview in four parts, the first of which was broadcast on Monday.

From then on, a spiral began which led her to know the luxuries prohibited in Castro’s Cuba, but also drugs, alcohol and impunity under this dictatorship. They took her to Varadero, to a hotel. It was Álvarez’s first time setting foot in a place like this, as Cubans were prohibited from entering areas designated by the regime for tourists.

“At the hotel he received me Guillermo Esteban Coppola, a friend of Maradona. There I was very scared because I was in a towel and I thought of the worst. A few minutes later, Maradona greeted me. He spoke a lot with me and gave me confidence. I loved it. He never went too far. He invited me with my family the next day to dinner at the Palais Dupont, ”he added.

Diego had been in Cuba since January, when he arrived on the Communist island to rehabilitate himself. The stay on the island lasted for long periods, about five years, during which he deepened his relationship with Mavys, whom he attempted to conquer with luxuries prohibited at the time to Cubans, such as dining in dollar restaurants, visit nightclubs and go out for a walk. . “I was a child. He had no pain. He was a foreigner, a rich man, and he had noticed me. I couldn’t say no. It was a privilege to be his girlfriend “said the woman.

Over time, Maradona took her to live with him in La Pradera, an international health center, where the Cuban regime had given him two houses: one for himself and one for his entourage of friends. “My mom didn’t take it well at all. Neither did my father. But at this age one is generally very rebellious and does not take into account the criteria of the parents. Life with Maradona was very crazy: parties, discos. He took me to eat…. I never imagined that later I would get into drugs that it took so much work to get out of. “Mavys explained.

And then she added, “After all these years, I feel sorry for myself knowing that I was 16 and that I was a part of it all. It was one more experience I had in my life. We don’t choose what to go through. I just got carried awayHe added. And she made it clear that although the player had offered it to her on several occasions, she still refused to participate in sex parties.

For Harold Crespo, who was studying with lvarez, she became “a goddess”. “From poor to have it all. Maradona’s official girlfriend, ”he said by phone from Uruguay, where he currently resides. And he detailed to Penton: “It was impressive to see the transformation of Mavys, from that innocent and happy girl we all knew to what she became after being immersed in this world of alcohol and drugs. It was very hard”.

Lawyer Miscellaneous Lariza, who heads Cubalex, an NGO dedicated to providing legal advice to Cuban civil society, assures us that Maradona has not violated Cuban laws in this relationship. “Relations with minors are not criminalized in Cuba. From the age of 14, girls can marry with the consent of their parents. Sexual relations constitute a crime only if they are carried out under rape, that is to say if the adult uses deception or abuse of superiority over the minor, ”he explained.

And, for more details, he noted: “Far from protecting the minor, in Cuba this teenage girl could have been punished for the offense of pre-criminal dangerousness, which is the legal figure used against girls having relations with tourists”. Pre-collective security measures are defined in articles 73 to 84 of the Cuban Penal Code, and can lead to sentences of one to four years in prison.

However, Mavys assured that she had never practiced prostitution, which is common among many minors in Cuba who seek to relieve tourists for the economic needs of their families. “I loved it. I was dazzled. It was a consensual relationship “, he concluded.

KEEP READING: