An Uneven Playing Field: The Evolving Legal Landscape of Baseball Relations Between Cuba and the United States
US economic sanctions and MLB’s implementation of prohibitive rules against Cuba have significantly limited the paths by which Cuban citizens can legally and safely come to the United States to play baseball. Generally, Cuban baseball players have been forced to escape Cuba under false auspices, clandestinely travel to a third country, and hastily obtain questionably legal residency there prior to signing a lucrative contract with an MLB club. Unsurprisingly, this dangerous process known as defection often involves corrupt human trafficking and a multitude of international financial crimes by the players, their representatives, MLB teams, and even MLB itself.
This defection process was the status quo until December 19, 2018, when MLB and the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) entered into an agreement (2018 MLB-FCB Agreement) that would purportedly bring an end to defection, the human trafficking of Cuban baseball players, and the international financial criminal violations inherent in the process. The 2018 MLB-FCB Agreement, which President Barack Obama’s Treasury Department made possible through the granting of a general license, and a policy interpretation that concluded FCB was not a branch of the Cuban government, allowed MLB clubs to safely and legally sign players directly from Cuba. As part of this agreement, a percentage of that player’s salary would be funneled into the FCB for the purpose of improving the baseball infrastructure in Cuba.
This historic agreement was short-lived. On April 8, 2019 the Trump Administration moved to strictly reinforce the Cuban embargo in an attempt to “expose the crimes of the Castro regime,” and force democratic change upon a Cuban government which “spread violence and instability in the region.” This strict reinforcement included a complete cancellation of the 2018 MLB-FCB Agreement. In an abrupt reversal, the Trump Administration’s Treasury Department determined that the FCB was in fact a branch of the Cuban government, and thus any payment remitted to it through MLB contracts was strictly prohibited under existing sanctions against the communist state. Further, any contract with Cuban defectors would now only be approved through a more restrictive specific license, effectively destroying the 2018 MLB-FCB agreement.
This Note will explore whether the 2018 MLB-FCB Agreement or the Trump Administration’s cancellation of said agreement is more in line with the objectives of the United States’ sanctions against Cuba.
Recommended Citation: Eric Beinhorn, An Uneven Playing Field: The Evolving Legal Landscape of Baseball Relations Between Cuba and the United States, 43 Fordham Int'l L.J. 819 (2020).