Venezuelan Little League Team Denied Visas Into The United States

Was this a mistake?

A Venezuelan Little League team was denied entry into the United States.

The Little League senior team was scheduled to play at the Little League Senior Baseball World Series, but their hopes of competing in the tournament are gone after being denied visas.

The team ranged from 13 to 16-year-olds.

It’s unknown what led to the team’s visa denial, considering that the United States has in the past relaxed its policy of issuing athletes visas for sporting events.

ESPN reported more on the team getting denied visas:

A Venezuelan baseball team was denied visas into the United States and will miss this year’s Senior Baseball World Series, Little League International said Friday.

The Cacique Mara team, from Maracaibo, Venezuela, was scheduled to participate in the tournament 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, adding that it is “extremely disappointing, especially to these young athletes.”

The Venezuelan team traveled to Colombia two weeks ago to apply for visas at the U.S. embassy in Bogotá.

“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?”

A Venezuelan baseball team was denied visas into the United States and will miss this year's Senior Baseball World Series, Little League International confirmed Friday.https://t.co/PnU8UVxBfc

— CBS News Miami (@CBSMiami) July 25, 2025

In the last decade, the relationship between the United States and Venezuela has been quite tense, and there have not been many diplomatic relations between the two countries.

However, the United States and Venezuela conducted a high-profile prisoner swap on Friday morning.

Yahoo News provided more details on the exchange:

Donald Trump has freed a convicted triple-murderer as part of a high-profile prisoner swap with Venezuela.
Dahud Hanid Ortiz, 54, a former US marine who killed three people in Madrid in 2016, was one of 10 Americans released last Friday.

Ortiz, a dual Venezuelan-American citizen, had been tried, convicted and sentenced to 30 years in Venezuela last year. Now, he is free and living in Orlando, Florida, sources told The New York Times.

Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s justice minister, confirmed that US officials were told of his crimes and conviction, but still wanted him released.

Hailing the success of the exchange, Marco Rubio, US secretary of state, said on Friday that the US “welcomes home” 10 Americans. “Every wrongfully detained American in Venezuela is now free and back in our homeland.”
Ortiz was reportedly not classified as “wrongfully detained”.

Breaking: Ten Americans, including a former Navy SEAL Wilbert Joseph Castaneda, were released from Venezuelan custody today in a prisoner swap involving the U.S., El Salvador, and Venezuela.

The swap included 250 Venezuelans serving in CECOT for their alleged ties to the Tren… pic.twitter.com/Yd4rwwE4C3

— hernando arce (@hernandoarce) July 18, 2025