Colombia will not play in the 2026 Caribbean Series in Caracas, Venezuela, with the president of the country’s winter league citing the expense of participation as a large part of the decision.
The news was confirmed to Colombian media outlet El Heraldo by Pedro Salzedo, the president of Colombia’s Liga Beisbol Profesional Colombiano, in a wide-ranging interview on Wednesday. He also said that the champion of the LBPC will participate in the Serie de Las Americas, a parallel tournament to the Caribbean Series run by the Asociation de Ligas Profesionales de Beisbol de Las Americas, which will be held in Panama Jan. 24-30, 2026 at Estadio Rod Carew in Panama City.
❌Siguen las malas noticias para el béisbol colombiano, el presidente de la DIPROBEISBOL, Pedro Salzedol, confirmó que Colombia no participará en la Serie del Caribe 2025 por falta de dinero .
Aquí la nota completa:
👇https://t.co/Dk55kf9bun— Peloteros de Colombia ⚾️🇨🇴 (@PeloterosCol) October 29, 2025
“We received the invitation, but since we’re already in the Serie de Las Americas, our organizers are demanding that anyone who participates do so under the same conditions. The circumstances aren’t right, and we’re going to abstain from participating in the Caribbean Series,” Salzedo told El Heraldo.
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Colombia’s participation at the 2026 Caribbean Series had been confirmed by the Confederacion de Beisbol Profesional del Caribe at a press conference at Estadio Monumental Simon Bolivar in Caracas in July 2025.
Colombia’s LBPC is one of the founding members of the Asociation de Ligas Profesionales de Beisbol de Las Americas, along with Argentina, Cuba, Curacao, Nicaragua, and Panama. The first Serie de Las Americas was held in January 2025, with Panama’s Aguilas Metropolitanas winning the inaugural tournament.
Salzedo said that the cost of participating in the 2026 Caribbean Series was prohibitive.
“We would have to pay, because to go to Venezuela, we would have to travel, and everything has a significant cost. The Serie de las Américas questioned that,” Salzedo told El Heraldo. “We are partners of the Serie de las Américas. It’s a very successful tournament and it’s the one we’re supporting right now.”
Colombia had been invited to play in Caracas by the Confederacion de Beisbol Profesional del Caribe, which has run the Caribbean Series since 1970.
“We did not participate in the last Caribbean Series because we had to pay a cost for participating, and then spending a week participating would be very expensive, that’s why we didn’t attend,” Salzedo said. The 2025 Caribbean Series was played in Mexicali, Mexico, with the Japan Breeze being the lone invitee.
Colombia last played in the Caribbean Series in 2024, when the event was held at Miami’s loanDepot Park, home of the Miami Marlins.
With Colombia out, the 2026 Caribbean Series is down to five teams, with the four CBPC member leagues, the Dominican Republic’s LIDOM, Puerto Rico’s LBPRC, Venezuela’s Liga Venezolana de Beisbol, and Mexico’s Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico, as well as Cuba’s Serie Nacional having confirmed their participation. An invitation was extended to the champion of Panama’s ProBeis league, but it remains unclear whether that league will accept the invite. The ProBeis league is a member of the Asociation de Ligas Profesionales de Beisbol de Las Americas and has confirmed that it will play in the Serie de Las Americas.
Salzedo told El Heraldo that the LBPC’s regular season is scheduled to begin on Nov. 28, and that the league is awaiting confirmation from the Leones de Monteria if they will play, joining the Caimanes de Barranquilla, Toros de Sincelejo, Tigres de Cartagena, and Vaqueros de Monteria for the 2025-26 season.
Photo: An aerial view of the La Rinconada 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)
