The Cuban team that will participate in the VI World Baseball Classic is now in the United States after completing their transfer in two stages, as reported by the official portal JIT.
The team arrived in Phoenix, Arizona, where it will hold an evening training session on Monday, and will play its final preseason matches on Tuesday and Wednesday before the start of the tournament.
The transfer process was gradual.
explained that, hours after the first group traveled, the remaining members of the team who participated in the preparatory friendly match against Nicaragua departed for Arizona.
In Managua, they were dismissed by the president of the Cuban Federation of Baseball and Softball, Juan Reinaldo Pérez Pardo, and by the first vice president of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education, and Recreation (INDER), Raúl Fornés Valenciano.
On Saturday, members of the team that represented the country in the series against Nicaragua returned to Cuba and will not be attending the Classic.
On Sunday, the INDER issued a statement rejecting what it described as "discriminatory" treatment by the United States government.
According to the official statement, eight members of the delegation were denied visas, which the organization described as "the most recent act of aggression against our people and their national sport."
The statement emphasizes that the denial of visas prevents the Cuban Federation of Baseball and Softball from presenting its team "on the same terms as the other participating nations."
INDER stated that the measure impacts key areas of the organization's operation, including the absence of a pitching coach and other specialists whose work directly influences athletic performance.
"The objective is to intentionally obstruct and harm the participation and performance of the Cuba team," the official statement noted.
The organization also stated that, since January 2025, there have been visa denials for Cuban athletes and officials for events on U.S. territory, describing the decision as "strongly political" and even suggesting that it could aim to provoke Cuba to eventually withdraw from participating in the tournament under those conditions.
However, beyond the tone of the official statement, it is important to clarify that the eight denied visas did not correspond to players. No team member was excluded for that reason. The denials affected members of the delegation who are not athletes.
Every time a Cuban sports team travels abroad, officials from the INDER and the regime's apparatus often join the delegation as administrative and political personnel whose role is not related to sports.
Those officials take advantage of these tours to make purchases, spend abroad, and represent the government institutionally, while also supervising and monitoring the athletes to prevent potential abandonments or defections. This has been a well-known pattern in Cuban sports for decades.
Meanwhile, the team has managed to travel and is already training in Arizona before heading to Puerto Rico, where they will compete in the first round.
The VI World Baseball Classic will begin on March 5 with Group B, and the rest of the brackets will start on March 6.
Cuba will compete in Group A, which will be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, alongside Puerto Rico, Canada, Panama, and Colombia, a segment that analysts have dubbed "the death bracket" due to the competitive level of its members.
In April 2025, the groups for the tournament were finalized.
The Cuban team will need a U.S. visa to enter Puerto Rico, a requirement that has impacted the team's logistical preparations.
The groups were formed as follows:
Group A (San Juan, Puerto Rico): Puerto Rico, Cuba, Canada, Panama, Colombia
Group B (Houston, Texas): United States, Mexico, Italy, Great Britain, Brazil
Group C (Tokyo, Japan): Japan, South Korea, Australia, Czech Republic, Chinese Taipei
Group D (Miami, Florida): Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Israel, Netherlands, Nicaragua
The quarterfinals will be held on March 13 and 14 in Houston and Miami; the semifinals on March 15 and 16 in Miami; and the final on March 17 at LoanDepot Park in Miami.
Among the top favorites are Japan, the reigning champion, as well as the United States, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic. Canada and Colombia are arriving with rosters bolstered by Major League talent, making Group A a true challenge for the Cuban team.
Amid the political rhetoric and mutual accusations, the reality is that the players are already in the United States and focused on competing. The controversy over the visas, while real, did not prevent the team's presence in the tournament. However, the underlying discussion brings back to the forefront the structure and political management of Cuban sports, which often intertwines international competition with institutional control.
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