You can’t even play baseball with these guys
HAVANA – After three years of negotiations, the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) and Major League Baseball (MLB) signed an agreement for the contracting of Cuban baseball players. The agreement is similar to the one the U.S. has with other countries. It was made possible after the Obama administration authorized it within the process of relaxing the U.S. blockade against Cuba.
But the problem is still the blockade. In no other case does the U.S. government have to intervene for an athlete to be hired by a team from his country. Yet, under these conditions negotiations continued after Donald Trump became president. We assume that MLB received assurances that they would respect previously established pacts since negotiations concluded, and steps were taken to finalize the agreement.
It was a very important agreement in Cuba’s eyes. It helped slow the indiscriminate drain of athletes which hurt the quality of the national sport. There was also the case of the social and political repercussions due to the illegal practices in the promotion of the emigrations of the ballplayers.
Since the blockade prohibited direct negotiations between the two countries, or that an athlete be signed without first renouncing his status as a Cuban citizen, there was a need for an intermediary to organize the athlete’s departure from Cuba and then obtain his residency in a third country. Then he became a ‘free agent’ in the eyes of Major League Baseball.
In order to carry out the wished-for deal, all rules of conduct were violated. Cuban teams were often left in the lurch during a competition, dangerous and clandestine escapes were organized, and foreign officials were bribed in order to obtain the player’s asylum and necessary documentation.
Once the operation was completed, the athletes were promoted showing opposition to the Island’s government. And all this time the traffickers continued to operated with absolute impunity in the U.S. Although most of these individuals — sometimes denounced by the athletes themselves — ended up in court and convicted for human trafficking. Generally, these individuals were public figures connected to local authorities.
These Cuban ‘free agents’ normally bypassed the normal MLB selection process which stimulated unfair competition among the teams. The Major League Players Association condemned the situation and were happy to see the agreement signed.
Major League Baseball was also a winner with this agreement. Firstly, because they would be in position to draft among a whole universe of Cuban baseball players, some of the best in the world, and incorporate them into their system. Secondly, because it would help lower the costs of the contracts, avoid conflicts with other baseball players, and not be forced to negotiate with persons who were more international criminals than sports agents.
It was a win-win for all. The athletes could now plan their careers without the fear of professional and personal insecurity.
However the “Evil Industry”, as Progreso Weekly founder used to call the extreme right in the Cuban American community, returned to the fore. They were the friends of the shady traffickers who made sure the agreement was nixed, at least temporarily. They assured that the current administration reversed Obama’s decision and left professional baseball in the U.S. hanging.
https://progresoweekly.us/baseball-deal-nixed-by-trumpians-yet-cubans-still-the-bad-guys/
MLB has yet to say what they will do.
Arguments in support of the administration’s decision are an insult to our intelligence. According to National Security Adviser John Bolton, the decision reached was because it contributes to the support of the Venezuelan government. Then there’s Senator Marco Rubio who argued that since the FCB charged a commission per athlete hired, it was dealing in human trafficking. Tell this to any federation of any sport in the world and they’ll tell you that you’re dealing with extraterrestrials.
Evidently these people feel powerful when they do harm. They have worked all their lives to maintain a state of belligerence between the two countries, something on which their political existence depends. I suppose they act this way for personal satisfaction or just plain old frustration.
But abuse has its limits. Their anti-Cuban crusade has created such a malaise that it has many within a wide spectrum of American society and beyond looking at how it affects their own interests, and therefore looking to end the aberration known as the Helms-Burton law.
Popular wisdom tell us that every cloud has a silver lining. That is why I believe that we are nearing the end of this senseless policy. This hope comes from the fact that nothing is eternal, least of all the Trump administration.
