Heaven forbid MLB opening up their coffers and cutting a 1/16th of the pie for the victims of Katrina. Lesson learned, never listen to a Commie/Dictator.

Myth? Dude, Cuba OFFERED to donate whatever money our US government allowed them to have to Katrina victims. That's no myth. The fact our own government then refused even THAT hardly makes CUBA look bad!

Every time one of these things happens, the ridiculous US policy toward Cuba embarasses us again. No other nation on earth categorizes Cuba as an "enemy". It's silly politics, and here's a case where it both gets in the way of good sport AND good charity.

Cuba never threatened to pull out of the tournament. Several other nations did, however, threaten to withdraw if the US kept up the ridiculous political posturing.

Excuse me but the fact that CUBA LIED about donations when they knew that the agreement they signed to get in the tournament expressley rejected the notion, is another example of the Cuban propaganda machine and how the liberal media in our country eats it all up like good little boys.

The reason we have sanctions on Cuba is because it is a repressive, totalitiarian country that sponsors and harbors terrorists and that nationalized assets of American citizens without compensation. Just because it's basbeball doesn't mean we change our foreign policy. If you want to change those policies I suggest you elect a president that agrees with you. Until then the embargo (or what's left of it) stands.

I have to always bring up South Africa. Would that country have been invited to the WBC if Mandela were still in prison and apartheid still in effect? Of course not. We should not pander to 3rd rate dictators that abuse human rights for half a century. Cuba has a Mandel figure and his name Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet. Maybe you should google him and find out why the US has the policies it has towards the murderous thug, fidel. Puleeeaaase!

"U.S. officials say privately that the Bush administration would react angrily if MLB ends up making a donation from the tournament's proceeds to a Katrina charity."

Wow... that seems more interesting than the fabricated story about the Cuban fabrication.

yeah heavens forbid MLB made a donation even if it is on Cubas "behalf"

"The reason we have sanctions on Cuba is because it is a repressive, totalitiarian country that sponsors and harbors terrorists"

OK

then what about China
Saudi Arabia
Viet Nam
Egypt
Israel
Laos
Yemen
Kuwait
Congo
almost every counry in Africa...

It just seems like the US doesnt care about the majority of repressive terrorist harboring societies in the world...why have a blockade against a relativley tiny country with a laughable army?

Is it coincidence that in the United Nations annual vote about the validity of the blockade that the only countries to vote for it are US and Israel?

The fact that some agreement like this should have ever been made to allow cuba to play is rediculous. The fact that a third world country has to offer donations to the poor people that the richest country in the world doesnt want to take care of is rediculous.

I just don't see how Cuba could lie about funds that they never had or wanted.

Abajo el bloqeo

You just don't let an enemy of the country make some miniscule donation (compared to the billions that we the taxpayers of the United States of Freaking America have spent) so that enemy can have a cheap propaganda victory. Could you imagine Hamas donating a million dollars to build a school in Israel? It would be so much BS.

Since we are on the subject of terrorists, check out conductor's web page. (Not that i want to plug it) http://www.trenblindado.com/

The very first thing you see is an image reading "Proud member of the Miami Mafia"

A little education: The "miami mafia" is a collective term for all the anti-cuba terrorists and those that associate with them (such as conductor) that coordinate and execute terrorist plans against cuba and cuban citizens, including, but not limited to, assasination attemps, blowing up airplanes (the worst terrorist attack in North America involving an airplane pre 9/11 see: Posada Corriles), harrasement (as mr. t does on this very website), propoganda thru the miami herald, and political strongarming to prevent the end of the blockade (Miami county was the deciding vote for bush in '00).

takes one to know one...

Nice catch Tony. And you are right, "then what about China
Saudi Arabia
Viet Nam
Egypt
Israel
Laos
Yemen
Kuwait
Congo
almost every counry in Africa..." Some inaction based on economics, some on disinterest or lack of constituency. the world is full of bad guys, depressingly so. that we don't treat them equally does not make Cuban policy wrong.

If the US really wanted Castro gone, they would end the embargo.
It has become Fidel's scapegoat for so many years, and rightfully so: how can a nation prosper in an export driven global economy if the cheif consumer of its major export refuses to do business?
End the embargo, then let him try to explain why everyone is still starving.

I have nothing against economic sanctions in targeted situations, where the leverage might change things. Like in South Africa. But it is a tool, and should be used when it achieves desired ends, and not when it doesn't. My own reading of the situation in Cuba, about which I am no expert, is that free trade would do more to democratize/capitalize the country than the embargo does. For that reason I oppose the embargo as a self-defeating device which serves primarily as a marker of outrage, and a device to solicit the votes of Cuban-Americans.

I'd appreciate it if Conductor or anyone else could point me to where Cuba lied about anything here. I suspect MLB was happy to let the public think money was going to US Katrina victims, as per Cuba's offer, in order to dampen anti-Cuban protests at the WBC.

Today Prensa Latina refutes the Miami Herald report &
says the alleged mlb spokesman in the article wasn't
involved in any negotiations. Cuba says they're indeed
getting a percentage & will give to relief. However, there
are now questions as to whether the WBC made any profit--some say yes, some no. If they made no profit,
no countries will get any money, including Cuba.

Classifying Cuba as an "enemy" is, as other commenters have pointed out, not much more than a shameless vote-pandering ploy that politicians from both US parties are equally guilty of. While Bush has made it easier on Castro than anyone in recent years, remember that most of this started under Kennedy and has been amplified by each president since, both R and D.

There's no basis for classifying Cuba as an enemy other than a desire to own the island -- how many times has the US invaded historically, after all, for how many different reasons, both before and since Castro? You can't blame them all on "communism".

On the other hand, Castro's offer to donate the money to Katrina victims was also a purely political move calculated to make the US gov't look like hypocrites that place politics above people, because it was made in order to put our US gov't in a no-win situation. You have to admire the cleverness, there. It was a sort of "Okay, you want to play politics with baseball? Take THAT."

And guess what? It worked. We in the US look horrible as a result of this. Castro's been a master at playing the US gov't like a fiddle for decades. His popularity in Cuba is very high, mainly because of nonsense like this. The reactionaries in the US (again, note: in BOTH parties) jump to please those Miami exile voters, end up looking bad, and in the process boost Castro's popularity back on the island.

(Remember, Cuba is a nation where every adult citizen is armed and trained by law as part of the military reserves. They have all the guns needed to overthrow Castro, but for fifty years have choosen not to. Why? Because he is overwhelmingly approved-of and popular. This drives those who left Cuba crazy. Those who opposed him all left for Miami when they were given the chance. Those who remain, no surprise, are something like 80:20 in favor of his "Revolution", and a quick trip to the backstreet bars of Havana will confirm this for anyone who'd like to go and find out.) If 5 percent of, I dunno, people in Massachusetts left the state in disgust over its politics, what kind of view of Massachusetts would you get if you only asked those five percent?

There's no doubt Cuba would indeed donate the baseball money to Katrina relief -- they spend a lot on humanitarian aid around the world, much more than the US as a percentage of GDP, I believe -- but it's just as true that Castro knew that it would never happen in the first place. This is the guy who calculatedly "became" a communist when it proved economically useful, after all, and has thrown it away now that it's passed its purpose -- Cuba's number one industry today is tourism. Explain THAT in the context of an "communist enemy dictatorship".

Castro's done a lot of good (and a lot of harm) for the island and its people, but two things are for sure: (1) he's a master politician with the kind of long-view that few folks back here ever show, and (2) the guy really loves baseball.

The tournament was good for everyone's perception of Cuba, I think, showing that it's not the nasty evil place that the Washington Post makes it out to be. If they part of the next tournament in Cuba, as buzz suggests, it'll do even more to foster understanding and peace... and THAT's a terrific use of baseball, I think.

very well written rokusan

The one point of yours im not sure about is that cubans could overthrow castro if they chose because they are trained and armed. I know they are trained but im really wonder if they are armed. and that training may not be very serious. One young man i met in havana, his "military service" was to be a bouncer/doorman at this community center/night club place.