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In the golden age of Cuban fencing, specifically in the foil category, there emerged a Habanero who did not believe in sharp rival weapons. He was born in San Miguel del Padrón and grew up in La Corea, a neighborhood made for "tough guys," and he carried that toughness to the stages of the world. Today, we interview Raúl Perojo, one of the last cultured foilists that Cuba has produced.
San Miguel del Padrón is a land of baseball players; where did your passion for flower arranging come from?
Hahaha. I was born on 5th Street, in La Corea, a very troubled area. As a child, I would put on my gloves in the street and engage in street fights, but my dad never wanted me to be a boxer; in fact, he was a baseball player and bought me everything: uniforms, gloves, caps... but it didn’t work out! I played a lot of four corners and was one of the best in the neighborhood, but that’s as far as it went.
Fencing entered my life because my first coach, Arquímedes Salazar, was recruiting children from the school at that time, and I got excited along with some friends. I competed in provincial Pioneers and was recruited for the EIDE Mártires de Barbados, where I was under the guidance of Marcos Girón and Mario Cárdenas.
I remember both of them with much affection, respect, and gratitude.
From the EIDE, I transitioned to the national ESPA “Córdova Cardín” under the guidance of Carlos Miranda and Rolando Soler. During the four years I was there, I participated in the Youth World Championship held in Mexico in 1994 and the Pan American Youth Championship in Havana in 1993.
When do you join the big team?
In 1994, after winning the National Youth Championship. I was 20 years old, and since we trained together with the older players and the youth team, the transition was very easy for me.
Raúl Perojo was an athlete with remarkable reaction speed and a very aggressive style. He wasn't very tall, which is why he focused more on endurance to maintain a good pace in competition. He relied heavily on his physique. He had a solid defense and was very intelligent: he knew what to do and what not to do against each opponent, which is a significant virtue in a good fencer.
Could we say that Palma de Mallorca is a turning point in your life, marking a before and after?
After the World Championship held in Portugal in 2002, when we lost the bronze medal in the team event to the Spanish team, we were the number 1 team in America. We almost had the Olympic qualification in our hands because the United States was in 14th place, and the 2003 World Championship was to be held in Havana. By participating in two more Team World Cups, we would earn the necessary points for that qualification.
The problem was that Rolando Tucker had already retired in 2001, Oscar García left after the 2002 World Cup in Portugal, and Elvis Gregory decided to start a new life and moved to Italy. The team was very young, and I was the only one with the experience to face such a challenge.
Reinier Suárez, Maikel Couto, Abraham O’Relly, and Daimar Arteaga, among others, were talented, but without international experience, and the Cuban authorities decided not to provide us with the budget to compete in the World Cup circuit.
As expected, the U.S. participated in all of them and was therefore the qualifier from America for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. I’ll tell you that I was offered to compete individually in the qualifying event, and I turned it down, which I now view from a different perspective. I was the number 1 in America, and I questioned where the money from the IOC for me was going.
Did they pay for you?
Yes, because I won the Grand Prix of Havana 2001, and I was awarded a sports scholarship for my training in that Olympic cycle, but I only saw my signature on some papers they placed in front of me regarding that money. When I asked what was being done with those funds, the reaction was to be expected, and from that point on, there was no budget for anything.
We went straight to the Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic, where I won a bronze medal individually and a silver medal as part of the team.
That competition was very difficult for me because, leading 40-31 against the Americans, I became so distracted that I couldn't maintain the lead, and we lost by a touch.
After the Pan Americans, I had another opportunity with the Pre-Olympic, but they decided not to take me.
I said goodbye to sports after winning the second Cuban Sports Olympics, and it was then that I requested my release; I was able to leave legally and arrived in Palma de Mallorca, where some friends helped me. There, I worked at the airport and did a bit of fencing, but not much.
In 2006, I was contacted from Mexico to be the coach of the national foil team, and there I achieved very good results: team bronze at the 2007 Pan American Championship and an individual third place with one of my athletes; at the 2008 Olympic Qualifiers, I won individual bronze, just one step away from going to Beijing.
In 2009, I worked with the Baja California state team, three-time consecutive national champions.
In January 2012, I decided to move to the United States, where I currently live.
So yes, Palma de Mallorca marked a turning point for me.
What are you doing now, where do you live?
I reside in San Diego, California, with my family. My wife, Meylín Quintana, a former member of the Cuban national youth fencing team, and my children Rey Raúl, Denzel, and Angie Marie. Thank God, three months ago my mother came here, and I am very happy with life.
Ten-year-old Angie Marie has followed in my footsteps, and the truth is she has a lot of talent and the character to succeed in the world of fencing.
I work in the mornings as a fencing coach at the University of San Diego (UCSD) and in the afternoons at the best foil club in San Diego called Team Touché Fencing, where I am the head coach, while Meylín is the manager.
My experiences as a coach have been wonderful. My students are national multi-medalists. One of them, Nicole Pustilnik, won the Youth World Cup in England in 2021 and that same year was the youth world runner-up in Egypt. She was ranked number 3 in the U.S. national first division and is currently studying at the University of Notre Dame, where she is coached by Rolando Tucker.
I have another athlete, Sophie Duan, who is ranked number 1 in the national rankings for the 10-12 age category, and Ella Zou, who is among the best in the country in the 13-14 age category.
Fencing in the United States has greatly elevated its level. Every weekend, if it's not a local competition, it's a regional one; if not, there are national championships that are practically like World Cups. It's an international event, with participants from Canada, Europe, and a significant number from Asia. Imagine that in each competition, there are between 200 and 300 fencers in each category.
The national "Summer" event held in July features competition from ages 10-12 to veterans in their 70s and 80s. The level of fencing here in the United States has become incredible. In this latest "Summer," about 15,000 athletes participated.
I dare say that right now, the United States is the country with the most development in modern fencing and the best fencing being performed worldwide. In the recent Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the women's foil team won individual gold and silver medals and a team gold, while the men's team secured a bronze.
At this year's Cadet-Youth World Championship held in China, American fencers won eight gold medals. The level of fencing here is incredible. All the most prestigious universities in the country have fencing programs, which has further enhanced the sport. Add to that the world-class coaches they have. For example, Elvis Gregory trains at Ohio State University and Rolando Tucker at Notre Dame University.
Going back to your career, have you always been a florist?
The foil is the foundational weapon in fencing. Most fencers start with this weapon and then, depending on their physical or technical skills, they move on to the épée or sabre. Since I began, it has been my favorite weapon, the one I enjoyed the most.
Do you remember any untold anecdotes?
Phew! I have many. At the 1998 World Cup in Paris—one of the most prestigious events on the world foil circuit—Elvis, Tucker, and Oscarito were among the top 16 fencers in the world, and I had to go to the qualifiers. Elvis and Tucker, from their bed, told me: "Compete hard," and then went back to sleep... hahahahaha.
We were at a hotel near the competition venue, and while walking at that early hour, Bacallao, the assistant coach, told me, “You have to rise to their level so you don't have to get up in this cold and so early and compete the next day.” Julita, should I tell you? That marked my sports career. To give you an idea of how difficult that competition was: on the first day, only 48 athletes qualify, and the next day, 16 from the world ranking are added. There’s a direct elimination of 64 fencers. Well, in that event, I became the runner-up and lost 15-14 in the final; there were over 200 fencers.
What did it mean for you to train and share equipment with Gregory, Oscarito, and Tucker?
A tremendous pride. Not only with them. Also training every day with figures like Guillermo Betancourt, Tulio Díaz, Rafael Morales, Vicente Pérez, Hermenegildo García, Eddy Patterson, Ignacio González, Leonardo Suárez, and many more.
It was a time of kings and queens of fencing. They held prominent positions on the planet. A very distant golden age in terms of time and the current possibilities of Cuban fencing.
What did it mean to be a disciple of Eduardo Jons?
Eduardo Jons is a man with tremendous pride and personality. He had a remarkable ability to teach and share his knowledge and experiences. In fact, I have been told that I resemble him a lot when giving individual lessons. My respect goes out to him, and all I can do is thank him for the experiences and the pride of having been part of that golden generation of Cuban fencing under his guidance.
Main rivals
My main rivals were always the left-handed fencers. It was very difficult for me to beat them. Before the 2003 Pan American Games, I worked extensively with coach Nelson Guevara (may he rest in peace), the coach of the women’s national team.
We knew that Dan Kellner, a left-hander, was the main star of the United States, and it just so happened that in the individual competition, I faced him in the semifinals. He defeated me 15-6, and in the team event, he beat me again… terrible!
What is your opinion on current Cuban sports?
Julita, that question is very good and interesting, and I will answer it as sincerely as possible based on my experiences as a high-performance athlete.
If you don't open yourself up to the world and see how things operate in modern times, it's impossible to progress, let alone compete on a global level. Modern sports are constantly evolving, and you need to keep up with that trend.
There was never a good foundation in the system; even during the brightest moments of Cuban sports, and I'll explain why: the Cuban system acts like a filter. It starts with mass participation at the pre-EIDE level, then EIDE, provincial ESPA, national ESPA, and finally the national team, where only the best should reach.
Imagine how many talented athletes are lost in that process, along with the deterioration of sports facilities, poor nutrition, the lack of international competition, and many desertions of athletes and coaches who have been forgotten without care or recognition.
Unfortunately, Raúl Perojo's words are not just blown away by the wind; they are profound truths that deeply hurt all of us who love sports and Cuban athletes.
The prominent fencer, who is no exception, is now a man satisfied with life, both personally and professionally, in a nation that has embraced him and to which he returns the favor by nurturing talented figures in American fencing.
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