English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
Andy Pagés, Andy Ibáñez, Yoan Moncada, and Daysbel Hernández could not play for Cuba in the World Classic. 14ymedio, Havana, May 7, 2025 — Andy Pagés’ dream of playing for Cuba seems doomed. After the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) limited the participation of Cubans hired by the Major Leagues in teams that … Continue reading “The US Requirement for Cuban Players Would Affect the Formation of Team Asere”
14ymedio, Havana, 28 December 2023 — Rarely has the regime licked its wounds with as much vigor as after the defeat of Team Asere in the semifinal of the World Baseball Classic. The propaganda had turned the match against the U.S. national team into a political crusade, and, as most sports specialists had predicted, the … Continue reading “Team Asere, Without a Homeland But With Love”
14ymedio, Rolando Gallardo, Quito, 16 March 2023 — I once heard an influencer, whose name I don’t want to remember, say that the “Cuban opposition was facing a scientific regime using improvisation.” This idea may have arisen creatively and spontaneously or come from the argument of Gene Sharp [an American political scientist]: “The idea that … Continue reading “Team Asere Does Not Belong to the Dictatorship, It Belongs to the Cuban People”
Players who “deserted or breached contracts” will not reinforce the island, according to ‘Swing Completo’ 14ymedio/Swing Completo, Havana, 10 March 2025 — Baseball player Aroldis Chapman, known as the Cuban Missile, rejected the Cuban Baseball Federation’s (FCB) plan to reinforce with exiles the national team that will participate in the VI World Baseball Classic. The … Continue reading ““I Was a Traitor and Now They Want Us To Go Play,” Aroldis Chapman Refuses To Join the Cuban Team”
Julio Robaina, Omar Estévez, Narbe Cruz and Erisbel Arruebarrena were among the 11 participants who emigrated The Cuban representation in the Little League World Series was left out of the competition 14ymedio/Swing Completo, Havana, 21 August 2024 — Of the 11 exiled players who had agreed to play for the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) in … Continue reading “Four Major League Players Resign From the Official Cuban Team”
14ymedio, Havana, 20 March 20, 2023 — It was with long faces and forced smiles, that the return home of the members of the Cuban baseball team that lost this Sunday in Miami to the US team by 14-2 was “celebrated.” And not only did Team Asere suffer the defeat, but its catcher, Iván Prieto, … Continue reading “The Regime Tries To Ease the Sports and Political Defeat of the Cuban Team With an Act of Reparation”
Manager Germán Mesa’s call includes Andy Pagés, Yoán Moncada and Zach Neto, while the case of Yariel Rodríguez is still not defined 14ymedio, Havana, December 4, 2025 — Finally, and after weeks of uncertainty, Cuba will participate in the World Baseball Classic. According to Cuban Baseball Digest, the Island’s national team “has the necessary permits … Continue reading “Cuba Will Go to the World Baseball Classic and Has Now Handed Over a Preliminary Roster of 50 Players”
The absence of baseball players is generating controversy among specialists in the discipline. 14ymedio, Havana, 3 November 2025 — The Cuban Baseball and Softball Federation excluded from the national team players from the two-time champion Las Tunas club for the upcoming Copa América. The selection, which determined the 27-player roster for the competition to be … Continue reading “Without Major League Baseball Players or Players From the Champion Las Tunas, This Is How Cuba Is Going to the Copa América”
“It’s a topic that has caused a lot of controversy,” the Granma native acknowledges. 14ymedio/SwingCompleto, Havana, Ocotber 27, 2025 / Cuban baseball player Roel Santos, who has represented Team Cuba in various international tournaments, called for Major League Baseball players to be part of the team’s roster for the VI World Baseball Classic – if … Continue reading “Cuban Roel Santos Dreams of Seeing the Island Play With Its MLB Stars”
Indifference prevails, especially among young people, and the cult of personality no longer works as an ideological cement. 14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, August 13, 2025 — On this 13th of August, in the streets of San Antonio de los Baños, several posters appeared that read “Abajo Fidel,” “Martí no es comunismo,””Patria y Vida” and … Continue reading “San Antonio de los Baños Celebrates the 99th Anniversary of Fidel Castro With Anti-Regime Posters”
Eight months before the event, only Yoan Moncada, Andy Ibáñez, Andy Pagés and Daysbel Hernández have confirmed their participation. 14ymedio/Swing Completo, Havana, 9 July 2025 — The Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) is debating changes to Article 1.6 of the National Series regulations to include players who defected or abandoned contracts with Team Cuba in the … Continue reading “With a Lack of Players for the Classic, Cuba Is Debating Inviting Those Who ‘Defected’”
14ymedio, Havana, 24 December 2023 — If instead of choosing faces, at the end of 2023 we had compiled the objects that best represent Cubans this year, we would have included in the list a suitcase, some police handcuffs, a baseball, a judge’s gavel, a keyboard, a microphone and graffiti on some facade. Every presence … Continue reading “Cuban Faces of 2023: The 14 Faces That Marked the Year 2023 in Cuba”
14ymedio, Havana, November 16, 2023 — The Cuban baseball team was left out of the Caribbean Series, which will be held in Miami next February, a key event for regaining the prestige of the national team after a year marked by desertions and mediocre performance. The players of the Island “were not invited,” said the … Continue reading “Cuban Players ‘Were Not Invited’to the Caribbean Series, Admits the Regime”
14ymedio, Havana, 19 May 19, 2023 — The Cuban Baseball Federation will call for baseball players in the Minor Leagues of the United States to join the team that will represent the Island in the Pan American Games of Santiago 2023 in October. According to the specialized media Pelota Cubana, everything will depend on the … Continue reading “Cuba is looking for U.S. Minor League Players for the Pan American Games”
14ymedio, Havana, 20 April 2023 — The Cuban Yosimar Cousín, who in 2021 thought about “not continuing to play baseball” because the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) cut off a contract with the Mexican team Charros, signed this Wednesday with the Chicago White Sox. The agreement is “2,000,000 dollars for two years and he will have … Continue reading “Baseball player Yosimar Cousin, ‘Blockaded’ by the Cuban Baseball Federation, is Hired in the United States”
