Table Tennis Star Beats the World – But Not U.S. Sanctions

Brazilian table tennis World Cup champion Hugo Calderano was barred from competing in a major tournament in Las Vegas last week when the U.S. denied him a visa. The reason? He competed in Cuba two years ago.

Tennis World Cup Champion Hugo Calderano

“I followed the same protocol as all my previous trips to the United States using my Portuguese passport. When I was informed of the situation, I mobilized my entire team to obtain an emergency visa, but unfortunately, there was not enough time,” Calderano said in a statement. “It is frustrating to be left out of one of the most important competitions of the season for reasons beyond my control.”

Calderano, who is the highest ranked non-Chinese player in the world, holds dual citizenship from Portugal. As a Portuguese citizen, he is eligible to travel to the U.S. without a visa by filling out a simple online form via the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA).

But the U.S. government automatically revokes this visa waiver for anyone who has visited Cuba because the State Department lists the nation as a “State Sponsor of Terrorism” (SSOT).

Citizens from 42 countries can get a visa waiver via ESTA. But if they’ve visited Cuba, they must apply for a visa at a U.S. embassy in order to visit the United States, a process that can take months.

There is no evidence that Cuba sponsors terrorism. The listing is not formally a sanction. However, inclusion on the list has cut off the island from international trade, credit, banking and investment – making SSOT a centerpiece of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” strategy to decimate the Cuban economy.

The terror list largely explains the decrease of much-needed European tourism, as Europeans think twice before coming to Cuba to avoid losing their U.S. travel perks.

Watch our video and hear from European travelers on the U.S. measure: