The Cuban team that will play this Sunday in the semifinal of the V World Baseball Classic against the United States is already at loanDepot Park in Miami, where mentor Armando Johnson offered a press conference prior to the crucial match.
Among other issues, the strategist addressed the possible provocations and insults that the island’s players may suffer at the venue, where protests are already taking place by the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance and the leaders of the exile community against the team, which they consider that it responds to and represents the interests of the government of Havana.
“Here we come to play baseball. We are not worried about those who come to provoke the players,” Johnson said in statements collected by journalist Guillermo Rodríguez, from Radio Rebelde.
The doors of LoanDepot Park are already open, but while waiting for the game, attention is focused on what is happening outside, where an attempt is made, fundamentally, to call attention to the situation of Cuban political prisoners and show rejection of the government of the island.
So far there are no reports of violent incidents outside the stadium or verbal attacks against the Cuban players, who are already on the field of LoanDepot Park practicing before the game against the United States.
As reported on Twitter by Kyle Glaser, a writer for the specialized website Baseball America, the police presence in the stadium is much greater than in previous days.
This is due to the fact that significant protests against the Cuban government are expected here in “Little Havana” due to it being the heart of the exiled Cuban community. There will also be additional security to avoid any incursion of protestors on the field of play. https://t.co/Ywk6l0L5rS
— Marly Rivera (@MarlyRiveraESPN) March 19, 2023
“There are significantly more police officers and dogs around the stadium than in the last two days,” the reporter noted.
For her part, Marly Rivera, from ESPN, specified that there will also be “additional security to prevent any incursion of protesters on the pitch.”
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