The Confederacion de Beisbol Profesional del Caribe, which operates the Caribbean Series, could pull the 2026 event out of Caracas, Venezuela, due to the suspension of diplomatic relations between Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, ESPN Deportes’ Enrique Rojas reported earlier this week.
Following the Venezuelan election on July 28, 2024, the South American nation was wracked with protests and violence as Nicolas Maduro was reelected, despite his main opposition party arguing the results of the election reported by the regime’s Consejo Nacional Electoral, or National Election Commission, were falsified. Shortly after the election, the opposition, led by Maria Corina Machado, produced tally sheets from a large majority of polling places across the country indicating that Edmundo Gonzalez was the true winner of the election, having drawn nearly 80% of the vote. In the wake of the controversial election, diplomats Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay were expelled from Venezuela, and those countries booted Venezuelan diplomats in response.
Reporta @Enrique_Rojas1 desde Mexicali que la Confederación del Caribe está siguiendo de cerca la situación de Venezuela y sus recientes acontecimientos políticos. Actualmente no existen relaciones diplomáticas entre RD y Venezuela, lo cual haría poco probable que un equipo…
— Daniel Álvarez-Montes (@DanielAlvarezEE) February 2, 2025
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Because the Dominican Republic doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Venezuela, and as a United States territory, Puerto Rico does not either, it is unlikely that either the LIDOM or the LBPRC champions would travel to Caracas for the 2026 Caribbean Series, leaving only two of the four CBPC member leagues — the Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional and the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico — potentially participating in the event.
A preseason event, the Hexagonal Monumental, was scheduled for October 8-11 at the Estadio Monumental Simon Bolivar, and was to feature the Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional’s Leones del Caracas, Navegantes del Magallanes and Tiburones de La Guaria, the LBPRC’s Cangrejeros de Santurce, the LIDOM’s Tigres del Licey, and the Japan Breeze, this year’s invitee to the Caribbean Series. That event was ultimately cancelled due to the diplomatic situation, with the Tigres del Licey being among the teams raising uncertainty about traveling there prior to the event.
It would not be unprecedented for the CBPC to move a Caribbean Series to a different country and venue. The 2018 and 2019 Caribbean Series were originally scheduled to be played in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, but were ultimately moved to Guadalajara, Mexico, and Panama City, Panama, respectively.
The Caribbean Series was held in Caracas and La Guaira, Venezuela, in 2023, with the LIDOM’s Tigres del Licey taking the title.
Photo: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, left, and his wife, Cilia Flores, wave to fans at Venezuela’s first game at La Rinconada in the 2023 Caribbean Series. Maduro’s regime is using the Caribbean Series to distract from the country’s economic crisis and launder its’ reputation, our columnist writes.
