Sen. Marco Rubio said on Sunday that the Miami Marlins were reportedly blocking people from displaying anti-communist slogans at the World Baseball Classic Semifinals game.
In a video posted to Twitter just as the United States prepared to face off against Cuba in the baseball game, Rubio said that he has received reports (as well as videos) that the taxpayer-funded stadium blocked visitors from displaying messages and slogans that the communist-controlled Cuban government deemed “offensive.”
“I’m getting reports and I’m being sent videos from people trying to get into the game wearing T-shirts that say ‘Free Cuba,’ ‘Cuba Libre’ … Slogans that the Cuban regime finds offensive,” said Rubio. “And, I’m being told that the Miami Marlins, who operate this taxpayer-funded stadium are not letting people in with these things on them.”
Rubio lamented the misfortune of a U.S. taxpayer-funded stadium allegedly censoring messages to appease communists.
“So just imagine that. A U.S. citizen taxpayer-funded stadium operated by the Miami Marlins in Miami, Florida, in the United States and Americans are not allowed to take in T-shirts or flags or signs … that have messages that the Cuban regime finds offensive,” he said.
“They’re not allowed to bring them in apparently. That’s not what the Miami Marlins told us what their policies were gonna be but that’s what they’re enforcing and it’s outrageous, it’s disgusting, it’s grotesque. I hope it isn’t true, but I hope it’s being corrected,” he concluded.
I keep getting reports the @Marlins are enforcing the Cuban regimes censorship rules against U.S. citizens attending tonight’s #WorldBaseballClassic2023 game between the USA & Cuba pic.twitter.com/65UhxYQfqX
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 19, 2023
Reports were mixed on whether or not the stadium was actually censoring anti-communist messages or if they were simply censoring profanity-laced messages. Latino podcasters Los Pichy Boys seemed to indicate the latter.
“The [Marlins] just called us to confirm that Patria y Vida posters and shirts are ALLOWED!! The only thing they don’t allow are bad words,” the podcast’s Instagram account said in Spanish [translated]. Indeed, several anti-communist posters that did not contain profanity were displayed throughout the stadium
Fans hold up signs during the World Baseball Classic Semifinals between Team USA and Team Cuba at loanDepot park on March 19, 2023, in Miami, Florida. (Eric Espada/Getty Images)
A fan holds a sign during the World Baseball Classic Semifinals between Team Cuba and Team USA at loanDepot park on March 19, 2023, in Miami, Florida. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
One reporter countered in Spanish [translated]: “I spoke to several people live and saw how they were told: not with posters!”
Regardless, swarms of protesters denouncing the communist Castro regime were outside the stadium letting their voices be heard.
Big anti-Casto, pro-Cuba libre protest outside of Marlins stadium in Miami #flpol pic.twitter.com/6lUrCX17vf
— Javier Manjarres (@JavManjarres) March 20, 2023
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