This story was written in collaboration with Belly of the Beast, an independent media organization that covers Cuba and US-Cuba relations.
In sports such as baseball and boxing, Cuba has long been nothing short of an international powerhouse. Basketball, though, for the island nation has mostly been an afterthought.
But last year at the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) AmeriCup, Cuba’s national basketball team did the unthinkable: it beat the United States 81 to 67 in front of a roaring crowd at Havana’s Ciudad Deportiva Coliseum. “It was magical: the entire crowd on its feet, cheering ‘Cuba, Cuba!’” said Michel Espinosa, a six-feet-five-inches point guard for the Cuban team. “We had never felt so much joy after a game. It was my best experience as a player.”
There has been no rematch. A year after that historic win, Espinosa and his teammates found themselves sidelined. Not by injuries or poor play, but by politics.
In February, the team canceled its trip to Puerto Rico for the 2025 AmeriCup because fourteen of the seventeen players and coaches either had their US visa requests denied or had not received a response in time. Cuba had no choice but to forfeit, losing a chance to compete in the top international tournament in the Americas, held every four years by FIBA. “We were on the verge of something big for ourselves and for the Cuban people,” said Espinosa. “To have it end over visa problems was just unfair.”
The nation’s basketball team however is not alone. From table tennis to volleyball to girls’ softball, every Cuban team that has applied for US visas has been blocked from competing in the US and Puerto Rico since Donald Trump began his second term,…
Auteur: Dariel Pradas
