MADRID, Spain.- The young Cuban pitcher Oscar Hernández, who competed in two Baseball World Cups, arrived in the United States in recent days through the Family Reunification Program.
Hernández, 23 years old and from Villa Clara province, will seek to continue his career and enter professional circuits, assured sports journalist Francys Romero sharing the news.
He made his debut in the National Series with Villa Clara in 2019 and participated in four editions of the contest, in which he achieved 63 strikeouts in 86.2 innings.
The man from Villa Clara was part of Team Cuba in the Under 18 World Cup in Thunder Bay, Canada, in 2017; and in the U-23 World Cup held in Taiwan in 2022. That same year he had competed in the Premundial held in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
Of the 20 players who competed in the World Cup in Canada for Cuba, 17 have already left the island.
According to Romero, Oscar Hernández had requested the withdrawal of baseball in his province at the beginning of this year, “to avoid setbacks when legally leaving the country.”
Another young baseball player leaves Cuba, according to close sources.
He was a member of the Cuba Under-18 (2017) and Under-23 (2022) teams. He could continue his career and try to enter professional circuits.
Details in: https://t.co/j3cjYN0qs7
— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) May 28, 2023
Family Reunification Parole Program
The program was initially launched in 2007 under the mandate of former President George W. Bush (2001-2009) and provides a legal path for Americans and legal residents in the US to claim their family member within Cuban territory.
It was suspended ten years later by the Donald Trump administration (2017-2021) and resumed at the end of 2022.
Last week the US Embassy in Havana Indian applicants for the Family Reunification Parole Program (CFRP) to keep their information updated, since the Department of Homeland Security is modernizing the family reunification processes for Cuba and Haiti.
Recent exodus of young Cuban baseball players
Baseball is one of the scenarios where the migratory crisis that Cuba is going through is constantly reflected.
This same month it was revealed that the pitcher from Sancti Spiritus Edelvis Pérez and the outfielder from Granma Ernesto Santi, both 18 years old, had arrived in the Dominican Republic.
Ronald Elías Terrero, a native of the Isle of Youth, also emigrated to the Dominican Republic in February. Terrero, 15, was part of the Cuba Team that won the silver medal in the U-15 World Cup held in Mexico last September.
The previous week the departure from Cuba of the Granma native was known Christian de Jesus Zamorawho will also integrate the aforementioned team.
