THE 1987 PAN AMERICAN GAMES : Notes : Cuban Official Says Stevenson Wasn’t at Fault

INDIANAPOLIS — Raul Amado Villanueva Torres, president of the Cuban boxing federation, said Monday that super-heavyweight boxer Teofilo Stevenson was not at fault in the automobile-motorcyle accident this summer in Cuba that left one person dead.

“There was no legal fault, but he is waiting for justice,” Villanueva said, meaning that Stevenson still must appear in court.

Stevenson, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, is not competing in the Pan American Games but, Villanueva said, may return in time for the Olympics next year.

Nicaragua’s baseball team, second to Cuba at the 1983 Pan American Games, is not as strong today as it was when competition began here.

In the second inning of Nicaragua’s first game Monday, a 5-0 victory over the Netherlands Antilles, starting right fielder Roger Peralta broke his right leg in four places when he made a Pedro Guerrero-like slide into second base. He was carried on a stretcher to an ambulance.

“What a dreadful loss,” said Aregelio Cordoba, coach of the Nicaraguans, who will play the United States Wednesday at Bush Stadium.

Karch Kiraly, recognized as the world’s best volleyball player, has a broken bone in his left hand, which will prevent him from playing until at least Aug. 20. That means he will not be available here until the medal round.

“It’s been 3 1/2 weeks, and I haven’t played full-out since,” Kiraly said. “The biggest problem is in blocking.

“I hope the team plays so well that I don’t have to play, but I’d like to play in these Games.”

Add Injury Report: Sprinter Mark Witherspoon of the Santa Monica Track Club has a nerve injury in his right leg and not a pulled hamstring, as originally reported. But his coach, Tom Tellez, said Monday that Witherspoon, the national champion this year at 100 meters, remains doubtful for the World Championships, Aug. 29-Sept. 6, in Rome.

Paul Anee, Indianapolis police chief, appeared at a press conference early Monday morning along with other city officials and Mark Miles, president of the Indianapolis Pan Am Organizing Committee, in a show of concern over treatment of the Cubans here.

They asked that more “civility” be shown members of the Cuban delegation.

There was a confrontation between demonstrators and the Cuban baseball team Sunday afternoon, and Manuel Gonzales Guerra, head of the Cuban delegation, had an unsettling elevator ride.

Guerra was verbally accosted--but not touched--in the elevator at his hotel. Miles said, “It is our understanding that there were insulting things said to him.”

There was no real harm done when a demonstrator tossed propaganda leaflets onto the baseball field near the Cubans’ dugout at Bush Stadium, either, but when the Cuban coaches tore the leaflets up and threw them back, there were some words exchanged and it became “embarrassing,” according to Anee.

“Don’t take this out of perspective,” Anee said. “These are minor skirmishes. But we are taking this incident seriously. We don’t intend to have athletic contests turn into security events. We are going to make sure that the Cuban athletes have the right and privilege to compete in the absence of confrontation. We won’t allow the disruption of any athletic events.”

Miles said that there has been no threat by the Cuban delegation to withdraw from the Games. And he said that even after the elevator incident, Guerra was in a relaxed mood and was very patient with the situation.

Miles added that he had explained to Guerra that cards distributed to the Cuban athletes, encouraging them to defect, were not sanctioned by police or city officials. The Cuban delegation assumed that because the cards were printed with police and immigration service phone numbers, they were printed by permission of those organizations.

Miles said: “The police number given was 911. We explained that everyone knew that number and had the right to distribute it. I think they understand now.”

A few swimmers and divers who were working out between sessions had to be evacuated from the Indiana University Natatorium Monday afternoon when a bomb scare was called in.

Police asked the athletes and coaches and two American journalists to leave the building for about 45 minutes while they used dogs to search the premises. No bomb was found.

Silvia Poll did it again. The long, tall 16-year-old swimmer from Costa Rica beat two U.S. swimmers for the gold medal in the women’s 200-meter backstroke. Her time of 2 minutes .02 seconds easily beat Whitney Hedgepeth, who won the silver in 2:02.06, and Sara Linke, who won the bronze in 2:04.00.

And still she says that her best events are yet to come. She’ll swim the 100-meter backstroke today.

Asked if she has received any offers from U.S. colleges, she said: “Oh, yes. Several. My coach has talked with them for me. But I am not going to the United States for school. I have my next four years planned, and I am going to go to school in Costa Rica. I have been with my coach (Francisco Riva) from the beginning and he is a good coach.”

Two cyclists from the Dominican Republic, Gustavo Deschamps and Teodoro Sosa, left their team and were reported traveling to New York to find work.

The head of the Dominican delegation, Bienvenido Solano, said that the cyclists were scheduled to compete Sunday in the 102.6-mile race.

“They left with their bicycles ready to compete, but they were never seen at the competition site,” said Solano, also vice president of the Dominican Olympic Committee.

“We are very embarrassed by this action, mostly because it will give sports in the Dominican Republic a bad reputation,” he said.

Times staff writer Tracy Dodds contributed to this story.