Being a professional athlete comes with many privileges. Fame, fortune, and the opportunity to play a game for a living are terrific rewards. However, the costs of fame are also a reality, especially in the world of Miguel Cabrera.
MLive recently reported on Cabrera’s recent decision to speak out on his Instagram account about the political crisis in his home country. Originally from Venezuela, Cabrera’s words traveled fast to newspapers in the South American nation.
Cabrera’s populist political message seems to be in contrast to the current government regime of Nicholas Maduro who has been accused of attempting to install a dictatorship in the country.
“I protest for truth, for the end of communism, and I am not with dictators,” he said. “To the people of the resistance, you are not alone.”
His opposition to the current political regime does come with some danger. Cabrera asked that there be no retribution for his opinion and support of these ideas against his family.
Cabrera has long been a financial supporter of people of Venezuela and wants his critics to know that he is doing what he can to help.
“Please do not do anything to my family. That’s what I ask.”
“I have helped Venezuela a lot,” he said. “I have sent medicine and food. What do you want me to send? Weapons? Don’t tell me that we are not doing anything.”
It’s easy to see why a wealthy celebrity like Cabrera would steer clear of taking a hard line about politics in such a dangerous area of the world. However, Cabrera seems to think that the situation now requires him to break his silence.
“But right now we have to get involved, because the country has been hijacked.”
This does not come without a cost, however. Cabrera not only fears retribution against his family as noted above, he has received direct threats against him by the radical left-wing ‘Chavistas.’
“As the chavistas told me, ‘If you go to Venezuela, they will break you, they will kill you.'”
Cabrera has struggled statistically this year on the field for the Detroit Tigers. It’s not hard to see how this off the field drama could affect one’s job performance. This difficult situation certainly shines the light of perspective on the game of baseball.
[the_ad_group id=”20855″]
