Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
On March 19, 2023, during the semifinal game of the V World Baseball Classic between the teams Cuba and the United States, held at the LoanDepot Park stadium in the city of Miami, Florida, unfortunate and dangerous incidents occurred against the team. Cuban who participated in a contest, which Cuba vigorously denounces.
It was a difficult game. The Cuban team went there to defend their colors with dignity, after having reached the semifinal stage for merits earned on the field. They faced a group recognized for its technical superiority and which was clearly the winner. The conduct of the American team and its direction were respectful and in accordance with the sportsmanship that must prevail in these events. Your win is deserved.
But the Cuban team also had to face a vile and organized aggressiveness there, which contrasted with the multiple messages of support, recognition and solidarity that it received from many people in the United States, mostly Cubans or descendants of Cubans, a good part of they from the city of Miami itself.
With the clear purpose of destabilizing our players, repeated acts of various kinds were carried out against them, against the delegation that accompanied them, and against the supporters of the Cuban squad in the stadium. These included direct attacks, threats, the use of offensive and vulgar language, attacks damaging the morale of the Cuban team and other incidents aimed at undermining the spirit of the athletes and damaging the show. These were events contrary to the conception of this type of sporting event.
The rules of order and conduct established by the stadium were not enforced, in which there was the apparent complicity of certain representatives and personnel of that sports facility and local authorities, particularly those in charge of order and security.
Objects were thrown at the players and their relatives, among whom were women, children and the elderly, as well as at members of the delegation and representatives of the Cuban press, and also at spectators who supported the Cuban team. Supposed spectators entered the field three times during the game and interrupted the game, which endangered the safety and stability of the Cuban team players. Repeated insults and threats were made to athletes, loudly, when it was their turn to bat or when they were preparing to enter the game, as happened to Cuban pitcher Frank Abel Álvarez while warming up in the bullpen, which violates the rules of Major League Baseball (MLB) and any notion of fair sport. Posters with political slogans, obscene and vulgar language, disrespectful towards athletes and the general public, which interfered with the enjoyment of the game, were constantly displayed. In the same way, clothes with offensive phrases and images of political content were used, not allowed by the rules of the sports facility.
Likewise, the Code of Conduct for Guests established for the stadium was repeatedly violated, starting with the irresponsible consumption of alcoholic beverages and the violation of assigned seats.
On most of the occasions in which representatives of the Cuban delegation or of Major League Baseball approached police officers to denounce the transgressions described above, they did not act on the transgressors.
All of these actions were grounds for immediate expulsion, citation, arrest, or other legal consequences, which on this occasion did not occur. These events distorted an event with deep cultural roots for both countries.
The Ministry denounces the complicity shown by the local authorities, who allowed and created the conditions for these acts to take place, openly and with impunity. At the same time, it strongly denounces the incitement by local politicians and figures who hold public office to indiscipline, assault and harassment of athletes. The tolerance of the forces of order, violating their obligations, stimulated the commission of successive attacks.
These same sectors were the ones that in 2018 sabotaged the agreement between the Cuban Baseball Federation and Major League Baseball, which would have been beneficial to all parties involved and would have contributed to ending the discriminatory treatment to which Cuban athletes are subjected. .
The Government of Cuba alerted the Government of the United States in good time, through diplomatic channels, about the public and open threats that were conceived to tarnish the participation of the Cuban team in the segment of the championship that would take place in the city of Miami and about the corrupt and irresponsible trajectory of the authorities of that city.
Team Cuba did not participate in the event on equal terms. Long before the start of the championship, the Cuban team had to face a complex and discriminatory process in which the Major League Baseball authorities had to request and receive, with delay, authorization for licenses from the Office of Foreign Assets Control. of the United States Department of the Treasury. This process included a special permit for Cuba to participate in the event, a later one for Cuban players from the Major League circuit to join, and another even later to finalize their early integration with the rest of the team. The permits granted explicitly prohibited several of the team members from traveling to Cuba with their teammates at the end of the contest. All this endangered the Cuban participation in the Baseball Classic and implied extraordinary disadvantages.
Cuban athletes have participated in sporting events in multiple cities in the United States and other countries without facing this climate of aggressiveness that seems unique to the city of Miami. Cuba will not renounce the right to compete on equal terms in US territory. In contrast, Cuba will continue to honor its commitments as a host in all international competitions held in our country, in which athletes from all over the world, including those from the United States, have always been respected and enthusiastically welcomed.
Facts such as those previously reported confirm, once again, that the city of Miami does not meet the minimum conditions to host an international event and that its authorities have a fundamental responsibility in this despicable reality.
Cuba thanks the numerous fans and all those who, inside and outside the stadium in Miami, welcomed Cuba’s participation in the Classic and its qualification for the semifinals with a team of Cubans residing in Cuba and abroad with joy and sportsmanship. Many approached the team to offer their support and solidarity.
The people of Cuba experienced days of emotion following the team from the first games and also suffered as their own the humiliation carried out by extremist sectors that attacked the team and were merciless with those who made the dream of a Cuba team come true in Team Asere. with the participation of Cuban players from the Major Leagues and leagues from other countries. Cuba will remain open to repeating this experience.
Above hatred, love for Cuba and love for sports will always prevail.
Havana, March 22, 2023
(Cubaminrex)