Uruguay receives Venezuelan boxer Eldric Sella

A closeup shot of Eldric Sella Rodríguez of the Refugee Olympic Team during boxing competition (69-75 kg) on ​​the third day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Kokugikan Arena on July 26, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.

(Photo by Buda Mendes / Getty Images)

(CNN Spanish) -

Eldric Sella, the Venezuelan boxer who participated as a refugee in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, has been received by Uruguay, reported on Tuesday David Smolansky, commissioner before the Organization of American States (OAS) of the opposition leader Juan Guaidó, recognized as president in charge of Venezuela by several countries. The government of the questioned President Nicolás Maduro does not have representation in that multilateral organization because he withdrew.

CNN contacted the Press Office of the Uruguayan Foreign Ministry to find out more details, but they responded that "everything concerning the refugee law is protected by confidentiality," so they could not provide details on the matter.

However, without naming Sella, the Foreign Ministry later issued a statement stating that the country "received a Venezuelan national as resettled" and that the "resettlement will have the financial and technical support of" the United Nations Agency. United for Refugees (Acnur).

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A UNHCR spokeswoman told CNN that, at the agency's request, the government agreed to offer him resettlement as a refugee.

"We are grateful for Uruguay's management and we wish him good luck in his future," he said.

Through a tweet, Smolansky thanked the Uruguayan government for receiving him and UNHCR for interceding in the case.

Sella himself published a photo on his Instagram account from Montevideo on Tuesday in which he talks about the "blessing" of being able to start again and thanks the South American country that "without thinking twice" welcomed him.

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The boxer was born in Caracas and lived with his family in the popular neighborhood on January 23, according to his profile on the Acnur page.

"The uncertainty about the life that he and his family had in Venezuela, the increase in violence and the humanitarian crisis caused him and his girlfriend to leave the country to find a safer place to live, in Trinidad and Tobago," adds the profile.

The boxer's father, Edward Sella, had declared to the VPI TV medium that his son entered Trinidad in 2018, but that he would not be allowed to re-enter because he needed a visa and, having the expired Venezuelan passport, he could not carry out the Procedure.

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CNN contacted the Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of National Security, which handles immigration issues, for information, but received no response.

Speaking to local Trinidadian Newsday, the head of that ministry, Fitzgerald Hinds, said on July 21 that Sella's documents were not up to date to return to Trinidad.

"If you want to return, you must make an application. We have a visa requirement for Venezuela that we implemented recently due to the high number of Venezuelans who come here," he explained.

CNN also contacted the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry for comment on the case, and has yet to receive a response.

On July 27, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza had said on Twitter that Sella is not a refugee because "no one is after him" and that "he can go home whenever he wants."

"He migrated to Trinidad and could not be granted a status for which he does not apply," he said.

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Source: Official Twitter account of Paris Saint-Germain

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