Cuban Olympic Committee Slams U.S. Over Visa Denials Ahead of 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics
The COC said its president, vice-president and secretary general were excluded from regional Olympic committee meetings in Miami and Puerto Rico this month after being denied travel documents.
Fourteen Cubans were unable to participate in an athletics championship in Florida in March, it added, and the national men's basketball team missed the FIBA AmeriCup in Puerto Rico in February -- all because they didn't get visas.
The COC blamed an 'arbitrary and politically-motivated handling of visa' applications resulting from Washington's 'aggressive policy' towards Cuba.
Relations between Washington and communist Cuba, which has been under a US trade embargo for over six decades, have soured further under President Donald Trump.
In a statement, the committee rejected 'discriminatory practices that go against the spirit of sports' and demanded 'respect for the obligations and fundamental principles of Olympism.'
Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has ramped up pressure on the Caribbean island, placing it back on a US list of 'terrorism' sponsors.
His administration has also taken steps to increase deportations of undocumented migrants, including from Cuba, and has stripped people of visas for alleged anti-Semitism or for having 'hostile attitudes' towards the United States.
Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio assured that the tightened immigration policies would not affect next year's FIFA World Cup, being jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, or the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
'We want it to be a success. It's a priority for the president,' Rubio said, amid reports of a fall in tourism to the United States since the start of Trump's second mandate.
AFP has contacted the IOC for comment over Cuba's complaint.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
24 minutes ago
- The Star
White House says Trump-Putin meeting is a 'listening exercise'
FILE PHOTO: T-shirts with images of Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump are displayed for sale at a gift shop in central Moscow, Russia, August 12, 2025. REUTERS/Yulia Morozova /File Photo WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Friday's Alaska summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin "is a listening exercise for the president," the White House said on Tuesday, tempering expectations for a quick Russia-Ukraine ceasefire deal. "Only one party that's involved in this war is going to be present, and so this is for the president to go and to get, again, a more firm and better understanding of how we can hopefully bring this war to an end," said White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt. "This is a listening exercise for the president." Trump will meet one-on-one with Putin during the talks, which will take place in Anchorage, Alaska, the White House said. He may, in the future, also visit Russia. "Perhaps there are plans in the future to travel to Russia," said Leavitt. Key issues remain ahead of the talks. Trump has said the two sides will need to cede land to end the bloody 3-1/2-year-old conflict. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said his country's constitution prohibits such a deal and that no arrangements can be made without Ukraine's participation in talks. The White House declined to comment on conversations taking place prior to the Putin meeting between Trump and Zelenskiy. Trump said on Monday that Zelenskiy may be invited to a future meeting with Putin. "The president has deep respect for all parties that are involved in this conflict and are trying to bring this conflict to an end," said Leavitt. (Reporting by Steve Holland and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Chris Reese and Nia Williams)
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Factbox-How much territory does Russia control in Ukraine?
LONDON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump has said that both Kyiv and Moscow will have to cede territory to end the war in Ukraine, so how much territory does Russia control in Ukraine? Russia controls nearly 114,500 square km (44,600 square miles), or 19%, of Ukraine, including Crimea, and a major chunk of territory in the east and south-east of the country, according to open source maps of the battlefield. Ukraine does not control any internationally recognised Russian territory. Russia says Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson - which were recognised by Moscow as part of Ukraine as the Soviet Union collapsed - are now parts of Russia. Ukraine has repeatedly said it will never recognise Russian occupation of its land, and most countries recognise Ukraine's territory within its 1991 borders. Following are details on the territory, Russian claims and Ukraine's position. CRIMEA Russian forces in 2014 took control of Crimea, which juts out into the Black Sea off southern Ukraine, and after a disputed referendum on joining Russia, Moscow absorbed the region into Russia. Its area is about 27,000 square km. Russia says Crimea is legally part of Russia. Ukraine's position is that Crimea is part of Ukraine, though privately some Ukrainian officials admit that it would be very hard to return Crimea to Ukrainian control by force. Crimea was absorbed into the Russian empire by Catherine the Great in the 18th century. Russia's Black Sea naval base at Sevastopol was founded soon afterwards. In 1921, Crimea became part of Russia within the Soviet Union until 1954, when it was handed to Ukraine, also then a Soviet republic, by Communist Party chief Nikita Khrushchev, an ethnic Ukrainian. DONBAS Russia controls about 46,570 square km, or 88%, of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, including all of the Luhansk region and 75% of the Donetsk region. About 6,600 square km is still controlled by Ukraine but Russia has been focusing most of its energy along the front in Donetsk, pushing towards the last remaining major cities. Russian-backed separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions broke away from Ukrainian government control in 2014 and proclaimed themselves independent "people's republics". Putin in 2022 recognised them as independent states just days before the invasion of Ukraine. ZAPORIZHZHIA AND KHERSON Russian forces control about 74% of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions of southeastern Ukraine, or about 41,176 square km. Ukraine controls about 14,500 square km across the two regions. Putin in 2024 said that he would be willing to agree peace if Ukraine withdrew from all regions claimed but not fully controlled by Russia - an area currently of about 21,000 square km - and officially renounced its ambitions to join NATO. Reuters reported in 2024 that Putin was open to discussing a Ukraine ceasefire deal with Trump but ruled out making any major territorial concessions and insisted that Kyiv abandon ambitions to join NATO. Two sources said Putin might be willing to withdraw from the relatively small patches of territory it holds in other areas of Ukraine. Putin's conditions for peace include a legally binding pledge that NATO will not expand eastwards, Ukrainian neutrality and limits on its armed forces, protection for Russian speakers who live there, and acceptance of Russia's territorial gains, sources told Reuters earlier this year. KHARKIV, SUMY AND DNIPROPETROVSK Russia also controls small parts of the Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions of Ukraine. Across the Sumy and Kharkiv regions, Russia controls about 400 square km of territory. In Dnipropetrovsk, Russia has a tiny area near the border. Russia has said it is carving out a buffer zone in Sumy to protect its Kursk region from Ukrainian attack. LEGAL STATUS OF THE TERRITORIES Russia classes the Republic of Crimea, Sevastopol, the Luhansk People's Republic, the Donetsk People's Republic, and the regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson as subjects of the Russian Federation. Ukraine says the territories are part of Ukraine. Most countries do not recognise the areas as part of Russia but some do. Crimea has been recognised by Syria, North Korea and Nicaragua. The United Nations General Assembly declared in 2014 the annexation illegal and recognised Crimea as part of Ukraine. The resolution was opposed by 11 countries. Putin has repeatedly compared the fate of Kosovo and Crimea. He has accused the West of having double standards for recognising Kosovo as an independent country in 2008 against the wishes of Serbia but opposing the recognition of Crimea. Russia opposed the independence of Kosovo. (Reporting by Guy FaulconbridgeEditing by Andrew Osborn and Gareth Jones)
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
What deal might emerge from Trump-Putin summit and could it hold?
(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss a possible deal to end the war in Ukraine when they meet on Friday in Alaska for a summit that is also likely to affect wider European security. European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy plan to speak with Trump on Wednesday amid fears that Washington, hitherto Ukraine's leading arms supplier, may seek to dictate unfavourable peace terms to Kyiv. WHAT KIND OF DEAL COULD EMERGE FROM SUMMIT? Trump said last Friday that there would be "some swapping of territories to the betterment of both". This prompted consternation in Kyiv and European capitals that Russia could be rewarded for 11 years of efforts - the last three in full-blown war - to seize Ukrainian land. It occupies about 19% of Ukraine. Ukraine controls no Russian territory. "It's a reasonable concern to think that Trump will be bamboozled by Putin and cut a terrible deal at Ukraine's expense," said Daniel Fried, a former senior U.S. diplomat now with the Atlantic Council think-tank. But "better outcomes" for Ukraine were possible if Trump and his team "wake up to the fact that Putin is still playing them". One could entail agreeing an "armistice line" instead of a transfer of territory, with only de facto - not legal - recognition of Russia's current gains. Any sustainable peace deal would also have to tackle such issues as future security guarantees for Ukraine, its aspirations to join NATO, the restrictions demanded by Moscow on the size of its military, and the future of Western sanctions on Russia. Trump has not commented on those issues since announcing the summit with Putin, though his administration has said Ukraine cannot join NATO. Diplomats say there is an outside possibility that Trump might instead strike a unilateral deal with Putin, prioritising lucrative energy contracts and potential arms control accords. Trump himself has said he might conclude in Alaska that a Ukraine peace deal cannot be done. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the possibility of Trump clinching a unilateral deal with Putin. WHAT IF UKRAINE OBJECTS TO ANY TRUMP-PUTIN DEAL? Trump would face strong resistance from Zelenskiy and his European allies if any deal expected Ukraine to cede territory. Zelenskiy says Ukraine's constitution prohibits such an outcome unless there is a referendum to change it. Trump could try to coerce Kyiv to accept such a deal by threatening to stop arms supplies and intelligence sharing. But analysts say there is more chance Ukraine might accept a freezing of battlelines and an unstable, legally non-binding partition. One European official told Reuters that, even if Trump did renege on recent promises to resume arms supplies to Ukraine, he was likely to continue allowing Europe to buy U.S. weapons on Ukraine's behalf. "The loss of U.S. intelligence capabilities would be the hardest element to replace. Europe can't even come close to providing that support," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. HOW MIGHT A DEAL AFFECT TRUMP'S SUPPORT AT HOME? There would be big political risks in the U.S. for Trump in abandoning Ukraine, said John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Kyiv, now with the Atlantic Council. This would portray him as "an accomplice in Putin's rape of Ukraine ... I don't think Trump wants to be seen that way, for sure", he said. Despite his strong political position at home, Trump would also come under fire even from parts of the American right if he were to be seen as caving in to Russia. "To reward Putin ... would be to send the exact opposite message that we must be sending to dictators, and would-be-dictators, across the globe," Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican lawmaker and former FBI agent, said on X last week. HOW MIGHT UKRAINE'S EUROPEAN ALLIES RESPOND? EU member states said on Tuesday that Ukraine must be free to decide its own future and that they were ready to contribute further to security guarantees for Kyiv. Oana Lungescu, a former NATO spokesperson now with the RUSI think-tank, said European states must move much faster to arm Ukraine, and start EU accession talks in September. Jana Kobzova, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said that "... if an unacceptable deal emerges from Alaska, European capitals will go into yet another diplomatic and charm offensive vis-a-vis Trump". "European leaders are increasingly aware that the future of Ukraine's security is inseparable from that of the rest of Europe - and they can't let Putin alone decide its future shape and form." (Reporting by Reuters reporters in Washington, London, Brussels, Berlin, Moscow and Kyiv; Writing by Gareth Jones; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
