The sixth edition of the World Baseball Classic is just around the corner. In less than a week the voice of Play Ball! in Tokyo, where the Taipei novenas from China and Australia will open the official calendar on March 4. Only two days later the actions will extend to San Juan, Houston and Miami, the latter being the venue for the decisive duels in mid-March.
Cuba, under the orders of Germán Mesa, has worked on its preparation in Nicaragua, where they held four confrontation matches against the Pinoleros, with a balance of two victories, one defeat and one draw. After these confrontations, the Caribbeans will arrive this Sunday in Arizona for the final stretch of preparation, which will include two games against the Kansas City Royals and the Cincinnati Reds.
Eight members of the Antillean delegation who were denied visas to enter North American territory will not be able to be on the journey to the United States. The Cuban Baseball and Softball Federation (FCBS) reported This Wednesday the decision of the northern authorities, which he considered turns its back on “the most basic precepts of sport.”
World Classic: US denies visas to members of the Cuban delegation, which analyzes “how to proceed”
Of the eight affected, OnCuba He learned that seven were part of the federation, diplomatic and logistical staff of the delegation, while only one (pitching coach Pedro Luis Lazo) was directly linked to the team on the field. However, the FCBS made it clear that everyone was part of the delegation “with specific functions, established by the organizers for all the countries summoned, given the demands linked to the integral functioning of the delegations.”
This then leads us to investigate the members of the delegation – who until now are known – who were denied visas to enter US territory.
Raul Fornes
The first vice president of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER) would be the head of the delegation in the tournament and had already been with the group in Nicaragua for a few days. Fornés is not a new face within the baseball delegations to international events, in fact, he was with the team in the last edition of the World Classic.
It is precisely because of this detail that the visa denial now draws attention. The Cuban manager passed through the United States immigration filter in 2023 and received authorization to travel with the team to Miami, where they played in the semifinals after passing the first two rounds in Taiwan and Tokyo.
Fornés, 50 years old, has always been linked to the athletic movement: he worked in the Sports department in Guantánamo and in the Faculty of Physical Culture in Santiago de Cuba, where he went from professor to dean. However, he has also been a political figure who has passed through the National Secretariat of the University Student Federation (FEU) and the Santiago government, a province in which he held the positions of vice president and president of the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power.
His transition from the legislative power in Santiago de Cuba to the upper echelons of sports occurred almost silently between the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019, without bombastic headlines in the media. His emergence into the management apparatus of Inder coincided with several internal movements of the entity in that same period, including the dismissal by President Antonio Becali in March 2019.
Since then he has been a fixture in the Antillean delegations to international events, highlighting, for example, his role as head of delegation to the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Paralympic events.
Juan Reinaldo Pérez Pardo
This is one of the most notorious visa denials due to the fact that it is the president of the Cuban Baseball and Softball Federation. Due to the rank of his position, Pérez Pardo had to be one of the leaders of the Antillean delegation to the Classic, an event he already attended in 2023.
At that time, the Caribbean federation was with the team in Miami, where he gave multiple statements to the media accredited at the event about the negotiation of permits with MLB for Cuban participation, as well as the monetary benefits that the team could receive for its performance. In addition, he considered the insertion of Major League players into the roster, something that had not happened before in baseball on the island.
After learning of the visa denial this week, Pérez Pardo pointed out that the decision leaves them “helpless” and forces them to “relocate functions,” although he stressed that this will not weaken the team. In this way, the manager almost ruled out the option of Cuba withdrawing from the Classic, which had begun to gain strength on social networks.
“The agreement between everyone is to go put on a great show and fulfill their goal, which is to defend the Cuban flag and obtain a decent place in the World Classic,” said the head of the FCBS, a position he has held since April 2022.
Pérez Pardo, 54 years old, has a Doctor in Physical Culture Sciences and has worked as a university professor, methodologist and baseball and softball coach. In this last sport he was National Commissioner from 2016 to 2021, when he also took charge of the ball on the island.
He first held the position of National Commissioner after the death of Ernesto Reynoso, and then he was elected president of the FCBS when the position was orphaned by the death of Higinio Vélez.
Pedro Luis Lazo
The only member of the official roster (players and staff) Cuban to the Classic with a denied visa has been the “Skyscraper” from Pinar del Río, one of the team’s pitching coaches. Lazo would perform this role alongside fellow turnaround player Jesús Bosmenier.
“We already had good coordination established, with Lazo in the bullpen, taking advantage of his knowledge, experience and excellent relationships with the boys,” said Bosmenier, who will now be alone in charge of the work with the pitchers, although he will surely have the support of Yuliesky González, also a member of the team.
The rejection of Lazo has drawn powerful attention, especially because he is someone who has entered the United States on multiple occasions, first during his glorious career as a pitcher for the national teams and then fulfilling the role of coach. In fact, just three years ago he was in Miami for the fifth edition of the Classic.
“In reality, it is difficult to understand that political criteria are used for an issue like this, because we are athletes, who have nothing to do with these issues, beyond the approach they want to give it,” said Tie to JIT after learning of the decision.
Gisleydi Sosa
Although he has many years of experience in the sports sector as a specialist in International Relations, his face is one of the least known among the Cuban public opinion of the group that has been denied to travel to Puerto Rico and the United States during the World Classic.
Sosa has been Director of International Relations at INDER for at least eight years and, as part of her duties, has been part of various delegations to international sporting events, including the World Classic.
Many wonder what role this type of managers play in an athletic delegation and the reality is that they are clearly defined. Participating in formal meetings, maintaining contact with organizers and local authorities, strengthening relationships with federations from other countries and negotiating cooperation agreements and future exchanges are some of the functions that are the responsibility of an International Relations specialist.
Judith Langaney
Like Gisleydi Sosa, he is another of the lesser-known faces among the group that has been denied travel to Puerto Rico and the United States during the World Classic. However, Langaney has a long record of service in the FCBS as a member, person in charge of International Relations and translator.
Graduated in languages and always attached to sport due to family influence, she has participated in other Classics, precisely in the role of translator. In fact, in one interview granted to Deporcuba in 2023 revealed that one of the most complicated moments of his career was in the 2013 edition: “I had to translate for Víctor Mesa… it was very difficult to keep up with him,” he said.
From that tournament, his upset image in the Cuban team’s dugout is well remembered just after Andrelton Simmons hit a home run off Norberto González and tied the scores in the duel against the Netherlands. That was a decisive match and, in the end, the Antilleans ended up losing 7-6 and were eliminated in the second round.
Carlos Del Pino
Along with that of Pedro Luis Lazo, this is the other visa refusal that has generated confusion, because Del Pino is one of the federations that has been most directly linked to the game due to his role as a statistical specialist.
For decades, Del Pino has been one of the main analysts of the National Commission and the FCBS, of which he is currently its Secretary General. His long service record includes participation in multiple international events, including the World Classic itself.
Furthermore, on several occasions he has been chosen by the World Baseball and Softball Confederation to work in foreign affairs, no longer as part of Cuban delegations, but as part of the staff of the highest governing body of the sport of balls and strikes at a global level.
Two names without official confirmation
On the list of eight members of the Cuban delegation without visas to travel to the World Baseball Classic there are two names that have not been reported in the official media. However, Yordano Carmona (Pelota Cubana USA) revealed that one of them is Camilo Lara, usually linked to security work in sports delegations on the island.
Lara had participated, at least, in the last edition of the World Classic and was now part of the large Antillean group that was currently accompanying the team in its preparation in Nicaragua.
It has not been possible to determine the identity of the other person with a denied visa, although, according to what he was able to learn OnCuba, This is another regular in sports delegations, also with experience in past editions of the Classic and with registered trips to the United States.
The other great uncertainty in Cuba regarding visas for the Classic is related to the press. For now, there is a good chance that, for the first time in the history of the event, the Cuban team will not be accompanied by any journalists from national media. In fact, until now no Antillean media professional has authorization to travel to cover the tournament.
Next week, several reporters are expected to appear at the United States consular section in Havana to apply for their visas, but they are in a race against time. If approved, they would have very little time to complete the logistical procedures and travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where Cuba will debut on March 6 against Panama. At this time there is no direct air route between Havana and the Puerto Rican capital, so they would have to make a connection, presumably in Panama or Florida, making the process more expensive and further delaying their arrival at the event.
In the history of the World Classics, precisely the Cuban press has already experienced the denial of visas to travel to the United States. In 2013, the renowned narrator and commentator Roberto Pacheco was not authorized to cover the Japan-San Francisco route, but it did not matter much because the Caribbean team was eliminated after a painful defeat against the Netherlands.
In 2023, a similar episode occurred with television reporter Aurelio Prieto Alemán, who did not receive a visa and could not cover the Cuban participation in the Miami semifinals.
