Cuban Girls Softball Team Benched by Travel Ban

Cuba’s girls’ softball team missed the Caribbean qualifier to the Little League World Series after the coaches and staff were denied U.S. visas.

The girls, ages 9 to 10, who came from La Palma, Pinar del Río, were due to play in Puerto Rico from Monday. They never made their flight. While they received their visas, adult coaches and staff in the delegation were denied.

Cuba’s Baseball and Softball Federation called the decision unfair and discriminatory. It is  “cruel to play with the expectations of kids who have worked very hard,” the Federation added.

This is the latest example of Marco Rubio’s State Department’s de facto travel ban on Cuban sports.

According to Gisleidy Sosa, director of international relations at Cuba’s National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation, no Cuban athlete this year had been granted a visa at the U.S. Embassy in Havana.

Cuba’s national women’s volleyball and men’s basketball teams also recently missed competitions in Puerto Rico due to visa denials, while a dozen athletes were barred from attending the World Masters Athletics Indoor Championship in Florida.

While Trump’s partial travel ban on Cuban nationals exempts athletes traveling to the U.S. for competitions “in major sporting events,” the decision for visa approvals is ultimately up to the State Department.

Major international competitions can require Cuban teams to obtain U.S. visas since qualifiers often take place in the United States or Puerto Rico.

The 2028 Olympic Games will be held in Los Angeles, where any Cuban athlete who manages to qualify could be subject to Rubio’s whims – assuming he is still in the job.

Watch our report with reactions to visa denials from Cuba’s national men’s basketball team HERE.