Outrage as Venezuelan Little League team denied US visas for tournament due to Donald Trump travel ban
The Cacique Mara team, from Maracaibo, Venezuela, was scheduled to participate in the tournament after winning the Latin American championship in Mexico.
'The Cacique Mara Little League team from Venezuela was unfortunately unable to obtain the appropriate visas to travel to the Senior League Baseball World Series,' Little League International said in a statement, adding that it is 'extremely disappointing, especially to these young athletes.'
The Venezuelan team traveled to Colombia two weeks ago to apply for their visas at the U.S. embassy in Bogota.
'It is a mockery on the part of Little League to keep us here in Bogotá with the hope that our children can fulfill their dreams of participating in a world championship,' the team said in a statement. 'What do we do with so much injustice, what do we do with the pain that was caused to our children?'
Venezuela is among a list of countries with restrictions for entering the U.S. or its territories. President Donald Trump has banned travel to the U.S. from 12 other countries, citing national security concerns.
Earlier in the month, the Cuban women´s volleyball team was denied visas to participate in a tournament in Puerto Rico.
The fate of those teams is striking because when Trump announced his travel ban at the beginning of June, the White House stated that certain sporting events would not be impacted.
Iran, for example, is on the banned list but has also qualified for the 2026 World Cup, hosted in the United States, Mexico and Canada next summer.
The White House told Daily Mail in June that exemptions are in place for 'athletes or members of athletic teams, including coaches and support staff, and athletes traveling for the World Cup, Olympics or other sporting events'.
But it appears that the Senior League Baseball World Series, the tournament starting Saturday for players aged 13-16 in South Carolina, does not fall under that category.
'They told us that Venezuela is on a list because Trump says Venezuelans are a threat to the security of his state, of his country,' said Kendrick Gutiérrez, the league´s president in Venezuela. 'It hasn't been easy the situation; we earned the right to represent Latin America in the World Championship.'
The tournament organizers replaced the Venezuelans with the Santa Maria de Aguayo team from Tamaulipas, Mexico, the team that was a runner-up in the Latin American championship.
'I think this is the first time this has happened, but it shouldn't end this way. They´re going to replace us with another team because relations have been severed; it´s not fair,' Gutierrez added.
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