President Donald Trump's administration has denied a Venezuelan Little League team from coming into the United States to compete in the Senior League World Series.
Little League International confirmed to Newsweek on Friday that the Cacique Mara team, from Maracaibo, Venezuela, will not be given visas to compete after winning the Latin American championship in Mexico.
“The Cacique Mara Little League team from Venezuela was unfortunately unable to obtain the appropriate visas to travel to the Senior League Baseball World Series,” Little League International said in a statement, according to The Associated Press.
They called it “extremely disappointing, especially to these young athletes.”
Last week, the team went to Bogotá, Colombia, to meet with U.S. Embassy officials to obtain visas for the event.
“It is a mockery on the part of Little League to keep us here in Bogotá with the hope that our children can fulfill their dreams of participating in a world championship,” the team said in a statement. “What do we do with so much injustice? What do we do with the pain that was caused to our children?”
The issue is part of a larger concern for the FIFA World Cup, which will be held in 11 U.S. cities in 2026. Already, there are discussions about relocating the games due to fears over Trump's immigration policies.
The Olympics are also set for Los Angeles in 2028. In June, Trump announced a ban on 19 countries from coming into the U.S., and there are an additional 36 countries that are being considered. So, 55 of the 195 countries in the world could be blocked from the Olympics in the U.S. due to Trump.
