Maradona’s Cuban ex-girlfriend denounces the mistreatment and abuse he suffered by the star

Mavys Álvarez Rego, a Cuban minor when she had an affectionate relationship with Diego Maradona, said this Monday (22) that she suffers when she sees the idolatry provoked in Argentina by the man she accuses of ill-treatment, abuse and having- introduced to drug use.

“It’s hard to be in his (Maradona’s) country, to see that he is everywhere, that he is an idol and, at the same time, what I remember him as a person seems bad,” Álvarez told an international press conference in a hotel in Buenos Aires, three days before the first anniversary of the death of the eternal Argentine ’10’ shirt.

Álvarez, 37, who has lived in Miami since 2014 and is a mother of two, testified last Thursday before the Argentine court, which is investigating whether she was a victim of human trafficking, when, as a teenager, she traveled with Maradona to Buenos Aires to participate in the tribute to the star at La Bombonera stadium in 2001.

During her two-month stay in Buenos Aires, Álvarez underwent plastic surgery on her breasts, which caused a painful postoperative period. She would have been kept locked and without proper care, according to her account.

“They stole my innocence”

“I stopped being a girl, I had to skip stages of life. You go from being a girl to a woman quickly. All that innocence I had was stolen from me. I was 16 years old and I was already drinking, drugging myself,” she revealed.

Their relationship lasted “between 4 and 5 years” during most of Maradona’s stay in Cuba, between 2000 and 2005, to rehabilitate himself from his addictions after he was on the verge of death.

When I met him, “I was amazed, he won me over with flowers (…). But after two months everything started to change. I loved him, but I also hated him, I even thought about suicide,” he said. Maradona persistently offered her cocaine until she agreed to use it, becoming addicted to the drug.

Álvarez accused Maradona of having raped her on one occasion. She also said that she was the victim of episodes of violence, such as once she answered her cell phone while the former player slept. “He was very angry. He grabbed his cell phone, threw it against the wall, slapped me and pushed me against the bed. There were many moments like that”, he said.

waiting for justice

Álvarez decided to tell his truth after “misrepresentations” about his life were published to launch a biographical series about Maradona.

“I think I’ve done my part, now it’s in the hands of Justice. I talked about what happened to me to prevent it from happening to others and so that other girls feel with the strength and courage to speak,” she said.

The Foundation for Peace and Climate Change, which represents it in Buenos Aires, asked the court to investigate the members of Maradona’s inner circle at the time for alleged human trafficking, illegitimate deprivation of liberty, initiation into drug use and serious injuries. Defendants’ lawyers rejected the charges.

Guillermo Cóppola, a former representative of Maradona, said he feels for Álvarez “if she really lived the ordeal that she claims to have lived”, but he denied involvement in a crime and denounced the director of the Foundation that accuses him for libel and defamation.