HAVANA, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic expressed their interest in participating in Cuba's 33rd International Weightlifting Tournament In Memoriam Manuel Suarez to be held in March in the western province of Pinar del Rio, local sports daily "Jit" reported Thursday.

Cuba itself will be represented by its leading figures excepting Ivan Cambar, bronze medal winner in London 2012, who is recovering from a surgery, Rafael Pacho, Cuban weightlifting commissioner, was quoted as saying.

The 33rd International Weightlifting Tournament, to be held from March 9 to 16 in the "19 de Noviembre" gym in Pinar del Rio, will be the prelude to the Pan-American Championship to be held from May 26 to June 3 in the Dominican Republic, to define the qualification to the 2015 continental championship to be held in Toronto.

Cuban weightlifters will also participate in the Pan-American Olympic Festival and the Central American and Caribbean Games, both in Mexico, as well as the World Championship in Kazakhstan, according to the report.

The International Weightlifting Tournament In Memoriam Manuel Suarez is held every year in Cuba since 1980. In the previous edition, weightlifters from six countries took part and Ecuador occupied the first place with 19 gold medals, 20 silver and six bronze, followed by Chile (14-2-23) and Cuba (12-22-11).