MANAGUA, Nicaragua – With less than two weeks to go until the start of the 2026 World Baseball Classic, Cuba’s squad is awaiting visas from the United States government they need to enter the country in order to play in the tournament.
Cuba is assigned to Pool A at Estadio Hiram Bithorn in San Juan, Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory. The club is currently on a four-game tour of Nicaragua that concludes on Feb. 27 in Managua. Cuba will travel to Arizona to play a pair of exhibition games against the Kansas City Royals on March 3 and the Cincinnati Reds on March 4 before heading to San Juan, where they’ll open WBC play on March 6 at 11 a.m. Eastern Time against Panama.
Everything after the Feb. 27 game against Nicaragua at Managua’s Estadio Nacional Soberania remains in question until the visas are issued, though a report on Monday from El Nuevo Dia, a Puerto Rico-based newspaper, said that a source indicated Cuba’s visas “are being processed and expected to begin being issued between Monday and Tuesday.”
On Sunday, it was reported that visas for Cuba’s players and staff had yet to be issued, and when asked by World Baseball Network following Cuba’s 3-1 win against Nicaragua in Leon, Nicaragua, Cuba manager German Mesa demurred.
“I can’t talk to you about that because I’m not the one responsible for that area,” Mesa said in Spanish following the game. “There are people who are in charge of that. My job is to lead the team and keep an eye on things.”
A day earlier, Swing Completo reported in a post on Instagram, “The Cuban team, which is currently playing several preparation games in Nicaragua, has not yet obtained visas to enter the United States,” citing Pelota Cubana’s sources.
Cuba’s visa issues ahead of the 2026 World Baseball Classic reflect the tightening of U.S. sanctions against Cuba, against which the U.S. has maintained a trade embargo that began under President Dwight D. Eisenhower and has continued to the present day, as well as a tightening of U.S. immigration laws since the start of President Donald J. Trump’s second term in office.
Earlier this year, a Venezuelan team bound for a Little League tournament in South Carolina was denied visas, forcing them to abandon plans to play in the event, leaving the tournament without a representative from Latin America.
The president of the event production company in charge of organizing the World Baseball Classic in Puerto Rico told El Nuevo Dia that World Baseball Classic believes that Cuba will get their visas approved and be able to play in the event.
“The communication we have had with the WBC is that they are confident that Cuba will be participating again in the World Baseball Classic,” Anaymir Muñoz, the vice president of MB Sports, the local promoter, told El Nuevo Dia.
With 11 days until Cuba is scheduled to begin play in San Juan, the clock is ticking.
Photo: Asked whether Cuba had obtained visas to enter the U.S. to play in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, Cuba manager German Mesa demurred. (Photo: Leif Skodnick/World Baseball Network)
