Three young Cubans residing in Miami who are studying nursing in Puerto Rico were expelled from the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan this Thursday for shouting slogans against the Cuban dictatorship during a game featuring the Cuba team in the VI World Baseball Classic 2026, according to journalist Mag Jorge Castro on his X account.
"They are three boys from Miami who study nursing there and went to see the Classic game," Castro wrote, accompanying his post with a video of the incident. Security personnel removed the three young men from the stadium following their protests against the regime.
The incident is not an isolated event in this tournament. During the match between Cuba and Colombia, held last Saturday, fans wore shirts with the phrase "Díaz-Canel singao". In the opening match between Cuba and Panama, a fan displayed a banner reading "Down with the Díaz-Contados dictatorship" behind home plate, an image that was captured and broadcast by Fox. At various points during the tournament, security personnel at Hiram Bithorn also removed other fans attempting to display similar messages.
Political tensions surrounding the Cuba team had begun even before the start of the tournament. Journalists were expelled from a stadium in Phoenix, Arizona during the training sessions of the Cuban national team for trying to interview players directly without submitting their questions for prior review by the delegation. "We were removed from the stadium for wanting to speak with the players. They told us we had to submit our questions for them to review, and then they would let us know if the player would respond," recounted a source from the media outlet Pelota Cubana. The manager Germán Mesa responded briefly when asked about the incident: "I didn't see it. We're focused on the game".
These tensions were heightened by the U.S. government's refusal to grant visas to eight non-player members of the Cuban delegation, including the legendary pitcher Pedro Luis Lazo, who was there as a coach, and the president of the Cuban Baseball Federation, Juan Reinaldo Pérez Pardo.
The Cuba team will no longer continue at Hiram Bithorn. The team was eliminated from the tournament on Wednesday, losing 7-2 to Canada, finishing the first round with a record of 2-2 and in third place in Group A. Previously, they had lost 4-1 to Puerto Rico, in front of 19,189 spectators.
This type of incident has direct precedents. During the 2023 Classic in Miami, the security at the Marlins stadium prevented the entry of "Patria y Vida" t-shirts and anti-communist posters, which sparked protests outside the venue and led Mayor Francis Suárez to announce an investigation into the restrictions. In 2021, during the Olympic Qualifiers in West Palm Beach, posters reading "Díaz-Canel singa'o" and "Free Cuba" appeared on Cuban television broadcasts despite efforts to conceal them, and there was a field invasion.
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