Venezuelan team allowed to enter U.S. to compete in Little League World Series

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A youth baseball team from Venezuela has been granted visas to represent the Latin America region at the upcoming Little League World Series in Pennsylvania, according to a league spokesperson, securing exemptions from the State Department to enter the United States despite representing a country under travel restrictions instituted by President Donald Trump.

Brian McClintock, a senior executive for communications at Little League International, said in a statement the State Department notified Little League International that the Cardenales Little League team from Barquisimeto, Venezuela, “has received their visas and will be able to represent the Latin America Region at the 2025 Little League Baseball World Series.”

“The seven Little League World Series tournaments, a role model of diplomacy for decades, are where kids from all different cultures connect on the fields and build lasting friendships and bonds, and we are grateful for all those who supported these players throughout this process, including the U.S. Department of State,” McClintock added.

Venezuela is one of several countries whose nationals are restricted from or limited in travel into the U.S. under the proclamation signed by Trump in June.

The Cardenales Little League team is one of 20 regional champions from around the world set to compete in the 78th Little League Baseball World Series, a nationally televised event for players ages 10-12 that begins later this month.

The team revealed on social media Friday that their visas had been approved for the tournament, which is held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

“The dream of our children will soon come true,” the team said in a translated Instagram post. “Williamsport here we come.”

Another Venezuelan Little League team, the Cacique Mara from Maracaibo, was denied entry to the U.S. last month for the Senior League Baseball World Series in South Carolina. At the time, Little League International said the team had been “unable to obtain the appropriate visas,” calling the decision to deny their entry “extremely disappointing, especially to these young athletes.”

At the time that the Cacique Mara team’s entry to the U.S. was denied, a senior State Department official told The Washington Post that officials were “working to review the case to confirm proper procedures were followed and necessary appeals were submitted by the visa applicants.”

The decision to bar the athletes from entering the U.S. comes as the country prepares to host some FIFA World Cup matches in 2026 and the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.

Though Trump’s travel ban restrictions include an exception for “any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event as determined by the Secretary of State,” members of the Cuban women’s national volleyball team were denied visas to enter Puerto Rico to compete in a tournament last month.