Havana, July 13 (Prensa Latina) A bureaucratic decision, alien to the spirit of sport, prevented a Cuban children’s team from traveling to Puerto Rico today, after Washington denied visas to the players’ coaches.
The La Palma team from Pinar del Río, the national champion in the 9-10 age group of the Little League girls’ softball team, was scheduled to participate in the Caribbean regional tournament leading up to the World Series starting July 14.
However, although the 14 girls received visas, the seven adults who were supposed to accompany them were excluded without valid justification by the US Embassy in Havana.
This refusal turns a sporting event into a collateral victim of the long-standing dispute between Cuba and the United States, a political rift that ignores age or purpose. Not even the educational and symbolic nature of the event was enough to stop a measure that, far from protecting anyone, exposes minors to defenselessness and deprives an entire community of a collective aspiration.
The Cuban Baseball and Softball Federation denounced the incident as part of a sustained pattern of obstruction, which this year has prevented other Cuban teams from participating or fully participating in international events, including some held on U.S. soil.
This episode is not only an affront to sport, but also to international commitments that imply respect, inclusion, and minimum guarantees for those who only aspire to compete on equal terms. There are no values at stake beyond the desire of a few to make sport a hostage to their policies.
Cuba has reiterated its concern about the future implications of such actions, which could even jeopardize the Caribbean country’s presence at events such as the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games or the upcoming World Baseball Classic.
otf/blc
