WHAT THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT IS DOING

Not surprisingly, Cuban authorities are seizing the opportunity to use the team as a distraction at a difficult time for a population struggling with food shortages and increased repression. They have also used it for a propaganda campaign to boost nationalist feelings, increase participation in the upcoming general elections and present Cuban exiles as hateful.

As part of the campaign, the team was renamed “Team Asere,” an informal term, akin to buddy or pal, that Cubans used to address each other, and several government-linked accounts are using it as a hashtag on social media. There is a government-produced song and a video that Cuba’s handpicked president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, tweeted on Friday. He bid goodbye to the players in an official ceremony before they headed for training in Japan last month and has frequently tweeted about the subject. Cuban government accounts on social media have also mentioned the team in propaganda for the upcoming elections, in which only Communist Party candidates can participate.

At the same time, Cuban state media is pushing the narrative that the national baseball team might be a unifying force and that those criticizing it from Miami are moved by hatred.

Cope, seethe, and wiggle

In his YouTube show, Otaola said Thursday that he has personally spent a significant amount on tickets for seats in “strategic areas” around the stadium, so audiences in Cuba watching the game on TV may be able to see the anti-government signs. He also said he is making arrangements so Patria y Vida, the song that has become a symbol of anti-government protests and sentiment, would be played between innings.

:data-laughing: