A young Cuban woman tennis player -- Aleida Spex -- arrived in the Chilean capital, Santiago on Friday (29 March) after being granted political asylum at the Chilean embassy in the Dominican Republic.

Miss Spex went to the embassy in Santo Domingo and was granted asylum on 8 March. She was a member of the Cuban contingent in the Central American and Caribbean Games. The Dominican Republic Foreign Ministry granted her safe conduct from the country about ten days later.

There was a heavy police and military guard at Santiago airport as Miss Spex arrived. She was taken to a police station after talking to newsmen.

She told them there was no respect for human rights in Cuba, and she was tired of the prevailing tyranny.

A few days before Miss Spex defected, the President of the Cuban Olympic Committee, Senor Manuel Gonzalez Guerra said United States agents had been trying to bribe members of the Cuban team in Santo Domingo to defect.

Senor Gonzalez said Miss Spex had betrayed her country.