A Venezuelan Little League baseball team has been denied visas to enter the United States, forcing them to miss the Senior Baseball World Series, Little League International confirmed on Friday.
The Cacique Mara team from Maracaibo had earned their place in the tournament by winning the Latin American championship in Mexico. However, they were unable to obtain the necessary visas to travel to the competition in Easley, South Carolina.
Little League International expressed its disappointment, stating, '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… it is extremely disappointing, especially to these young athletes.'
The team travelled to Colombia two weeks ago to apply at the US embassy in Bogotá. The embassy did not respond to a request for comment from the Associated Press.
In a statement, the team described the situation as 'a mockery' and questioned, 'What do we do with so much injustice, what do we do with the pain that was caused to our children?'
Venezuela is subject to US travel restrictions imposed by President Donald Trump due to national security concerns. The Cuban women's volleyball team was also denied visas for a tournament in Puerto Rico earlier this month. The Venezuelan league president, Kendrick Gutiérrez, said, 'They told us that Venezuela is on a list because Trump says Venezuelans are a threat to the security of his state… we earned the right to represent Latin America in the World Championship.'
The tournament begins on Saturday, and organisers have replaced Venezuela with the runner-up team, Santa Maria de Aguayo from Tamaulipas, Mexico. Gutiérrez added, 'I don’t understand why they put Mexico in at the last minute and left Venezuela out.'
