The U.S. federal government’s decision to ban Cuba from playing in a first round tourney baseball game in Puerto Rico has caused significant international response. To wit:

On December 28, USA Today reported:

Venezuela offered to host part of next year's World Baseball Classic in place of Puerto Rico and suggested moving the final to Canada, proposals aimed at keeping Cuba in the 16-team tournament.

In mid-December Canada’s CBC Sports reported:

The outrage was palpable on the streets of Cuba on Thursday as the country reacted vociferously to a U.S. government decision to ban the communist island nation from the inaugural World Baseball Classic.

On December 23, SacBee.com ran Associated Press writer Anne-Marie Garcia’s wire:

HAVANA (AP) - Fidel Castro said Friday that the Bush administration was wrong to prohibit Cuba from sending a team to next year's World Baseball Classic. "He is very much a fool," the Cuban president said of Bush. "He doesn't know who the Cuban baseball players are, or that they are Olympic and world champions. If he knew, he would know something about this country's government."

In The Sacramento Bee’s December 19 editorial titled “Politics Strikes Out”, the Bee editorial staff opined:

But this isn't really about money, or even baseball. It's about U.S. domestic politics. There's an election next year, and every vote counts, including those of Cuban exiles in Florida and New Jersey who really hate Castro.

So forget about testing who's best on the diamond. Think about striking another futile blow against the Cuban dictator. He has outlasted nine American presidents and may yet say adios to a 10th, who pretends to think that keeping Cuban baseball players from playing in this country will somehow help bring down an odious regime. Maybe he also thinks it will lay the groundwork for a new expansion franchise in Havana.

I’m sure the international community will have much more to say on this issue. Stay tuned…
Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive