Home Run Propaganda and the World Baseball Classic

Attention baseball fans and political analysts! In the fifth World Classic, the Cuban team has hit the diamond with a power swing and a steel glove. But not everything is fun and baseball, as the Government and the Cuban officialdom have taken advantage of the situation to turn it into a true show of political propaganda. Wow, they figured out how to take advantage of the speed of the pitchers to launch political messages!

The cartoons that Matraca brings today reflect the face of the propaganda. On the mound is the Cuban government juggling the victories of the national team and wanting to use the players as puppets to distract the people from their real problems.

In the batter’s box are the fans who have noticed something stinks in the stadium. It is not the smell of hot dogs or popcorn, but of a political strategy that seeks to cover the sun with a glove. They denounce that the Cuban team and some of its members who play in foreign leagues are being used as a front, cleaning the face of the Cuban Government and distracting the population from the repressive actions, the tense economic crisis and human rights violations.

In the world of social networks, reality and the media, the Cuba team and its foreign players have been caught in the middle of a baseball game with a political twist. Will they be able to emerge victorious and return the focus to what really matters: love for sport and respect for human rights?

Cuba’s participation in the fifth World Classic is not just a matter of a baseball competition, it is a game of power and politics that is played on a diamond full of surprises.

I was hoping for a little rice and beans besides the…

Good play, champ!

This article was translated into English from the original in Spanish.