The article below was first published on November 16, 2025, by Trabajadores, the daily newspaper of the Confederation of Cuban Workers.

World-Outlook is publishing it for the information of our readers, encouraging everyone to take part in the campaign to press the U.S. government to let Cuban athletes participate in the 2028 Olympics.

The headline, photo, text, and YouTube video that follow are from the original. Translation from Spanish is by World-Outlook.

— World-Outlook editors

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Let Cuba Play!

Published on November 16, 2025, 16.52 EST

By Yimel Díaz Malmierca

In recent months, the United States government has denied visas to more than 80 Cuban athletes who requested to participate in qualifying games taking place in that country, a prerequisite to compete later in the Olympic Games set to be held in the summer of 2028 in Los Angeles, California.

The rejection is part of a long string of hostile actions and aggressions against Cuba that aggravate the real impact of the U.S. economic, commercial, and financial blockade, as well as the supranational sanctions levied against Cuba as a result of its unjust inclusion on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list.

While that hard line is the official stance of Donald Trump’s government, within U.S. society, solidarity groups are growing and becoming stronger, and their actions have an increasingly greater impact.

Aware of that certainty and the undeniable accomplishments of the Cuban sports movement, some of those groups have put together an international campaign, Let Cuba Play, set to be launched this coming Sunday, November 23, via an international videocall.

Prominent figures and organizations that have joined the initiative include social epidemiologist Bita Amani and Medea Benjamin, both of Codepink. Also Tamara Hansen, coordinator of Vancouver Communities in Solidarity with Cuba; Kevin Kucera, of the International Association of Machinists of Los Angeles; Carlos Lazo, organizer of Bridges of Love (Puentes de Amor); Brenda Lopez, of the Los Angeles US Hands Off Cuba Committee; Bob Schwartz, of Global Health Partners; Danny Valdes, co-president of the Democratic Socialists of America’s Cuba Solidarity Working Group; Michael Vera, of the Inlandboatmen’s Union of the Pacific, Southern California Region; John Waller, former national coordinator of the Pastors for Peace caravans; Helen Yaffe, professor at the University of Glasgow; and the National Network on Cuba.

The campaign recognizes that Washington’s refusal to grant visas to Cuba’s athletes “is not just a violation of the rules of the International Olympic Committee, but also an attack on the right of U.S. sports fans to enjoy the high level of competition that Cuban teams have always delivered to the games.”

“We believe that the Olympics should not be used as a political weapon against the Cuban people,” they say. “Our primary focus will be to organize the broadest number of athletes from the sports world alongside concerned artists, unionists, religious leaders, campus figures, prominent individuals and others, to remind members of the International Olympic Committee from various nations and organizations of their obligation to honor the organization’s own charter.”

“We will carry out this campaign in the broadest, most inclusive and most democratic fashion,” and they warn the Trump government “that the political price it will pay — if it continues this unpopular attack on the Olympic games, on Cuba’s sovereignty, as well as on the democratic rights of the American people — is too high.”

The Let Cuba Play campaign began to take shape during the International Meeting of Theoretical Publications of Left-Wing Parties and Movements, held in Havana in October. The campaign has the support of the U.S. National Network on Cuba; Cuba’s National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER); and the creators of the audiovisual platform Belly of the Beast.

Those interested in joining Let Cuba Play can write to the email Letcubaplay@gmail.com, or make contact by WhatsApp (+1-310-350-7515), or the social media platforms Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/letcubaplay; Instagram: @letcubaplay; and TikTok: @letcubaplay.

Belly of the Beast Video

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