Play Ball not Politics

The Bush administration has reversed its previous decision and decided now to allow Cuba to take part in the World Baseball Classic to start in March. Earlier the Treasury Dept. had denied Cuba's application to play in the US.

I agree with Dr. Taylor, this was the right thing to do. Nothing was to be gained by the ban and it only provided ammo to those people who criticize US policy towards Cuba.

Open Post- Adam's Blog, Bright& Early, Right Wing Nation, Third World County,

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Bush administration is letting Cuba play ball.

The Cubans will be allowed to participate in the inaugural World Baseball Classic after the U.S. government reversed course Friday and issued the special license necessary for the communist nation to play in the 16-team tournament.

Baseball's first application was denied in mid-December by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, but the commissioner's office and the players' association reapplied Dec. 22 after Cuba said it would donate any profits it receives to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

"The president wanted to see it resolved in a positive way," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "Our concerns were centered on making sure that no money was going to the Castro regime and that the World Baseball Classic would not be misused by the regime for spying. We believe the concerns have been addressed."

The license was required by 45-year-old American sanctions against Cuba designed to prevent Fidel Castro's government from receiving U.S. currency. At the State Department, spokesman Sean McCormack said the initial rejection was based on concerns Cuban spies might accompany the team.

"Working closely with World Baseball Classic Inc. and the State Department, we were able to reach a licensable agreement that upholds both the legal scope and the spirit of the sanctions," Treasury spokeswoman Molly Millerwise said. "This agreement ensures that no funding will make its way into the hands of the Castro regime."

After the initial rejection, the International Baseball Federation threatened to withdraw its sanction of the tournament if Cuba was not allowed to participate. International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said this week that any future U.S. bids to host the Olympics would have to ensure there would be no restrictions on participating nations.

Paul Archey, a senior vice president of Major League Baseball International, and union lawyer Doyle Pryor went to Cuba on Jan. 10 and 11 to negotiate terms of Cuba's participation that would be acceptable to the Bush administration.

"Everybody involved in the tournament wanted the best teams in the world to be involved, and certainly Cuba is one of those teams," U.S. manager Buck Martinez said. "Everybody feels pretty confident this is now really going to be a test of the best teams in the world."

Puerto Rico threatened to withdraw as a host site if Cuba wasn't allowed to participate.

"We were always positive," said Antonio Munoz, the promoter who paid millions of dollars to stage the first two rounds in San Juan. "There were some negative people, but they were wrong in the end."

The tournament, the first in which the world's top players will participate on national teams, runs from March 3-20. The other 15 teams submitted their 60-man preliminary rosters earlier this week.