CARTAGENA, Colombia (CMC) - The 20th Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games opened with a lively and glittering ceremony at the Pedro de Heredia Stadium on Saturday night.

The opening ceremony, attended by Colombia president Dr Alvaro Uribe Velez, presented all the Caribbean and Central American flavour, exhibiting a multi-cultural mix of rhythms and colours in performances that included music and dancing.

World-class Colombian athletes such as the 'Chechi' Baena and Maria Isabel Urrutia went round the Pedro de Heredia Stadium track welcoming fans to the great sports event.
It is the third time Colombia is staging the CAC Games, having previously staged the multi-sports event in 1946 and 1978.

Top competitors from 32 countries in the CAC region are participating in Olympic-style competition of 39 sporting disciplines.

Venezuela's Victor Castellano got the first gold medal of the 2006 CAC Games at the weightlifting competition.
In the 56-kilo category, Castellano captured the gold medal in the snatch event after lifting 122 kg, a new Central American record.

Cuban Sargio Alvarez took silver and Colombian Nelson Castro got the bronze medal.

Nations joining hosts Colombia at the CAC Games are Antigua and Barbuda, Netherlands Antilles, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela.

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