Venezuela oppostion leader Maria Corina Machado holds up a tally sheets during a protest against the reelection of President Nicolas Maduro. Machado says that she won by a landslide election in Caracus Venezeula in Aug 28, 2024. The politics is keeping the Carribbean Series on hold because other countries are nervous about sending their athletes to Venezuela because of possible war against Maduro and Venezuela. (AP News photo)

By Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

Baseball is Venezuela’s national sport, but it is suffering because of the deep economic crisis, political instability, and security concerns. Their leagues are struggling financially. Players have left the country for asylum, and their attendance at games has also suffered.

Although the 2026 Caribbean Baseball Series was scheduled to be held in Caracas, Venezuela, at Estadio Monumental Simon Bolivar, logistical issues and rising tensions in the country led the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation (CBPC) to relocate the series to México, with games to take place at Guadalajara’s Estadio Charros de Jalisco.

Leagues from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and México boycotted Venezuela; these countries do not want to send their players to Venezuela for reasons already known. Cuba,a historical baseball pioneer, was excluded from this tournament, and its government called it “disrespectful.” Why was Cuba excluded? Cuba is politically aligned with Maduro.

Operating under Cuba’s government sports ministry (INDER), there are no baseball team owners in Cuba; the government owns them, plus you cannot question a government decision in Cuba; they rule. There is no First Amendment in Cuba.

Venezuela situation: Geopolitical tensions in Venezuela are nothing new. Over the past decade, since Nicolás Maduro became president, the United Nations estimates that close to 8 million Venezuelans have fled as the economy collapsed (the largest exodus ever from one country in Latin America), sneaking across porous borders and crowding into nearby countries (like Colombia) that increasingly fear they cannot accommodate another mass exodus. Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for promoting democracy and opposing the Maduro regime.

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in recognition of her courage in campaigning against Maduro and leading the opposition, despite being barred from running and forced to live in hiding. Also, pressure from the current US government administration against Venezuela, which is nothing new since the United States has been intervening in Latin American countries since President Wilson in 1914. Like it or not, it is history.

In the Caribbean Series, the situation is highly fluid. Venezuela’s participation remains uncertain; Panamá will participate as a guest nation.  This series is supposed to be played from February 1 to 7. But it is in danger.

The World Baseball Classic (WBC), with 20 countries scheduled to participate,(including the US and Japan) takes place from March 5-7, 2026. The situation with Venezuela and Cuba is still to be determined. What is the root cause of Venezuela that led to the current situation?

 (Read here) ]\\https://www.unhcr.org/us/emergencies/venezuela-situation

Personal story: I remember as a kid (13 years or so) in 1959 at Estadio de El Cerro in La Habana.  Just days after Fidel Castro was assembling his government, there was gunfire inside the stadium, and Havana Sugar Kings shortstop Leonardo (Leo) Cárdenas was injured, along with a coach. Cárdenas played for 16 years in the majors, mostly with the Cincinnati Reds. He is 87 years young.

Happy New Year!

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez – Cuban-born Pi-González is one of the pioneers of Spanish-language baseball play-by-play in America. Began as Oakland A’s Spanish-language voice in 1977 ending in 2024 (interrupted by stops with the Giants, Mariners and Angels). Voice of the Golden State Warriors from 1992 through 1998. 2010 inducted in the Bay Area Radio Hall of fame.

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