In what was a joyous evening at two different ballparks in Venezuela Friday night, the annual round robin playoffs began in the Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional.
Hours later, the quiet silence of the night was shattered when bombs began to fall around the Venezuelan capital of Caracas as the United States military launched strikes supporting a mission to arrest Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro. The military action, which began after midnight, resulted in the capture of Maduro.
What the military action by the United States in and around the capital of Caracas means for the LVBP’s playoffs remains to be seen. Both teams that play in or near Caracas — the Leones del Caracas and the Tiburones de La Guaira — missed the playoffs after disappointing regular seasons.
Fewer than 10 Americans are currently playing in the LVBP, Venezuela’s top professional league, though more than 10,000 American citizens are believed to be in the country. Reached via social media, one American playing in the league told World Baseball Network, “I’m ok. It’s normal here for now.”
Another U.S.-born player told WBN Saturday afternoon that his team had been told that there would be no games played until further notice.
In the wake of the capture of Maduro, the LVBP suspended play in the league’s five-team, 16-game round robin playoff, El Emergente’s Ignacio Serrano reported. The league’s president, Giuseppe Palmisano, told El Emergente that the league is evaluating the situation day-by-day, while also saying “it will be difficult to continue if what is happening is prolonged.” The LVBP cannot postpone the playoffs indefinitely, as the Caribbean winter leagues must finish play in early February, before Major League Baseball’s spring training begins.
Two games were on the league’s schedule for Saturday night, with the Caribes de Anzoategui facing the Navegantes del Magallanes at 4:30 p.m. EST in Valencia and the Aguilas del Zulia facing the Bravos de Margarita at 6 p.m. EST in Porlamar. On Sunday, the Caribes are scheduled to face the Cardenales de Lara at 4:30 p.m. EST in Barquisimeto, and the Aguilas del Zulia are again scheduled to face the Bravos at 6 p.m. EST. The league has made no statement regarding the status of the games to be played this weekend or in the playoffs going forward, though as of 3:30 p.m. EST, the two games scheduled for Saturday were listed as postponed on MLB.com’s page for winter league scores.
Saturday afternoon, BeisbolPlay, a media outlet that streams the LVBP games live for a subscription fee, posted on the social media network X in Spanish that Palmisano told the outlet, “the Round Robin action is suspended temporarily. The league figure explained that, given the current situation, the tournament’s outcome will be put on pause.”
Giuseppe Palmisano, presidente de la LVBP, dijo en exclusiva a BeisbolPlay que la acción del Round Robin se suspende de manera momentánea.
La figura de la liga explicó que, ante la situación actual, se pondrá en pausa el desenlace del torneo.#LVBP pic.twitter.com/oEvAAOlhsv
— BeisbolPlay (@beisbolplaycom) January 3, 2026
The alleged capture of Maduro by U.S. forces comes just over two weeks after the Confederacion de Beisbol Profesional del Caribe, an association of the professional baseball leagues in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic, voted to move the 2026 Caribbean Series out of Caracas and La Guaira to metropolitan Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.
Citing the potential difficulty in traveling to Venezuela, the Dominican Republic’s LIDOM, Puerto Rico’s LBPRC, and Mexico’s Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico told the CBPC on Dec. 15 that they would not attend the Caribbean Series were it played in Caracas. Shortly thereafter, the Charros de Jalisco, who play in the LAMP in Zapopan, a city neighboring Guadalajara, announced they would be willing to host a relocated Caribbean Series, and days later, the CBPC announced the relocation of the series to Estadio Panamericano.
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In response, the LVBP invited the Serie de Las Americas, previously planned to be played Jan. 24-30 in La Chorrera and Panama City, Panama, to move to Caracas and La Guaira and play the same dates as the Caribbean Series. Organized by the Asociation de Ligas Profesionales de Beisbol de Las Americas, the Serie de Las Americas is now scheduled be played from Feb. 1-7, 2026, pitting it directly against the Caribbean Series for viewership in Latin America, though ABAM has not confirmed the tournament will continue after Maduro’s capture.
The LVBP regular season began Oct. 15, but since September, tensions between the United States and Venezuela have risen. The U.S. military launched multiple strikes against boats alleged to be carrying drugs bound for the U.S., though the Trump Administration has yet to publicly show any evidence supporting those allegations. In the past month, the U.S. military also seized at least two oil tankers, the Skipper and the Centuries, which were allegedly carrying Venezuelan crude oil.
Caracas last hosted the Caribbean Series in 2023, when the Estadio Monumental Simon Bolivar opened after 10 years of construction. The event featured eight teams, making it the biggest Caribbean Series ever played, and a sparkling, brand-new stadium, despite shocking economic conditions. Maduro became president of Venezuela in 2013 upon the death of his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, largely continuing Chavez’ ideology of “Chavismo,” which combines left-wing socialist populism with Pan-Hispanic ideals. The country has been suffering an economic crisis since 2010, largely due to the country’s economic reliance on the petroleum industry.
The crisis has had a significant effect on baseball, Venezuela’s most popular sport. Twenty-three Major League Baseball teams have closed player development academies opened in the South American country in the 1990s and early 2000s, and the MLB-run Venezuelan Summer League closed in 2015. Major League Baseball teams have moved their Latin American academy operations to the Dominican Republic, where all 30 teams now operate player development academies, and MLB operates the Dominican Summer League.
Despite the adversity, Venezuela had the third-most players on 2025 MLB rosters of any country in the world, behind the United States and the Dominican Republic.
Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores, were flown out of the country by the U.S. military and are being held on the U.S.S. Iwo Jima, a Landing Helicopter Dock ship. The U.S. Government revealed that Maduro and Flores have been indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, located in Manhattan.
Photo: An aerial view of the Estadio Monumental Simon Bolivar baseball stadium in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023. The 65th edition of the Caribbean Series begins on Feb. 2, 2023 in Venezuela. Games will take place in Caracas at the La Rinconada and in La Guaira. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
