Panama City, Panama.- A few days ago, Cuba expressed its desire and interest to host the Caribbean Baseball Series in 2020 or 2021; however, this request will be stored for a long time, as long as the US keeps its blockade policy against the Caribbean island.

That was what the president of the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation, Juan Francisco Puello stated on the matter.

”First, issues related to the US embargo (blockade) must be resolved,’ the executive emphasized.

After these statements, Cuba was at a crossroads. Cuba’s desire to host the tournament as founder of this sports meet, was a dramatic obstacle and the future around this issue seems to have gray overtones.

The agreement reached last December 19 between Cuba and the Major Leagues of the United States (MLB), with the consent of the US Department of the Treasury and the Major League Baseball Players Association, was a step forward, although first, it should be deepened still more to bring the Caribbean Series to Cuba.

There is no longer an impediment (after reaching the agreement with MLB).

In fact there are many possibilities that we (Cuba) will be accepted as full members at the next meeting of the Confederation, said Higinio Velez, president of the Cuban Federation (FCB), in a dialogue with Prensa Latina.

‘If everything goes according to plans, Cuba would be accepted as a full member since 2020, and then it could request the organization of the event,’ Velez said.

These statements contrast with those made by Puello, so we must give a margin of time to see how events go on.

We cannot accept Cuba in the confederation until that political problem is solved, said Puello.

‘Of course, if Cuba were accepted as a full member in any way, then it would have the possibility of officially requesting to be the host of the Caribbean Series in the coming years,’ he added..

For more than half a century, Cuba has suffered an economic, commercial and financial blockade by the United States, which dramatically affects all spheres of Cuban society, including sports.

On December 19, the FCB and the MLB reached a pact for the normalization of the contracts of the Cuban baseball players, who will be able to sign for MLB teams without having to renounce their original citizenship and go to a third country to get a free lancer category.