HAVANA, Cuba.- Anyone who is not very aware of the relations between the Cuban sports authorities and the players from the island who play in the United States Major Leagues, could experience surprise at the creation of the Association of Cuban Players Professionals (ACPBP).
Because, obviously, that group denotes a kind of protective action on the part of the Cuban players who play in the Big Top. They protect themselves from the ostracism in which their country of origin keeps them. Here what happens in Panama does not happen, where Mariano Rivera is an idol; or the Dominican Republic that adores Pedro Martínez; and what to say about what the memory of Roberto Clemente means for Puerto Ricans.
The Cuban ruling party has given the order to the media to ignore as much as possible the players born on the island who today play in the MLB. It does not matter if they legally left Cuba, or if they deserted a Cuban delegation that was participating in an international event.
During these more than six decades of Castroism in power, there have been innumerable Cuban baseball players who have shone in the MLB, and who are practically unknown to the island’s fans: José Canseco, Rafael Palmeiro, Tony Oliva…, and others trained in Cuba, who later left and the Castro machinery forgot them forever: José Ariel Contreras, Aroldis Chapman, Pito Abreu…
Not only are these players submerged in oblivion from the point of view of their sports performance, but also as citizens they pay for the “crime” of having left the island. We have the recent case of Yulieski Gurriel, who was denied entry into the country by the Cuban government for a simple family visit.
As a result of the poor performances of the island’s players in recent international tournaments, there have been many statements by Cuban players who play abroad, in the sense of being able to join a unified Cuban team, and thus face other nations. that make up the teams with their best players.
However, such a proposal has not been duly answered by the leaders of Cuban baseball. It gives the impression that the regime would be willing to include some, and deny participation to others. And that uncertainty, of course, does not satisfy the bulk of the athletes who play in the MLB.
Thus, the baseball players themselves decided to create the Association of Professional Cuban Baseball Players, with their eyes fixed, among other things, on being able to represent Cuba in the next World Baseball Classic to be held in 2023.
But, almost immediately, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), in the person of its president, the Italian Ricardo Fraccari -by the way, with unbeatable relations with the Cuban sports authorities, spoke out against of the alleged participation in the Clásico of the aforementioned Cuban professional team. Of course, the presence of Antonio Castro Soto del Valle, son of Fidel Castro, as one of the WBSC executives, should not be overlooked in this decision.
While all this is happening, the recently inaugurated president of the Cuban Baseball Federation, Juan Reinaldo Pérez Pardo, announced that the players who left their teams in the current National Series to play abroad will be sanctioned with a two-year ban. return to work on the island.
Of course, Mr. Pérez Pardo is referring to the players who obtained the contracts on their own initiative. Because those whose contracts abroad were made through the Cuban Federation, with the corresponding economic cut for the latter, have no problems of any kind.
OPINION ARTICLE
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