Victory is Your Duty

The Issue

In the past seven Olympic Games, Cuba, an island nation with a population of 11 million people, has dominated the sport of boxing: 32 medals, 26 gold. Boxing has held a special place of honor in Cuban society since the Revolution, not least because Castro has deployed the nation's athletes as an unconventional tool of foreign and domestic policy. Sport propels the nation onto the world stage - allowing it to break out of economic and political isolation into a very public and superficially apolitical arena. While the country has never had the military might to challenge the U.S., it has found a way to compete inside the ropes of the boxing ring. Now, as Castro's faltering health has thrown the future into question, Cuba's athletes, as well as the rest its citizens will face a crucial time of transition. While the shift of power from Fidel to his brother Raul seems to have gone smoothly, there are some indications that changes in economic policy may lie on the horizon.

The Film

WIDE ANGLE gains intimate access to the Havana Boxing Academy on the outskirts of Cuba's capital. There, from the tender age of nine, boys hand-picked as future Olympians are molded into soldiers of the ring. They live and train at the academy with a single purpose: to bring home Olympic Gold. Victory is Your Duty follows the boys' dramatic path over eight months of training, schooling and boarding as they build up to the biggest event of their lives -- the annual National Boxing Championships.

Dr. Andy Gomez
a Senior Fellow at the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies speaks about Cuba's post-Fidel era and the future of US-Cuban relations with Anchor Daljit Dhaliwal. Watch interview (below) or read transcript.

Discover Cuba's rich boxing history in our Olympic timeline. Follow Cuba's presence on the world stage through a photo essay of propaganda posters. Go behind the scenes with Andrew Lang in our Filmmaker Notes.