Three prominent winter leagues to withdraw from Caribbean Series if it remains in Venezuela

Amid the backdrop of political turmoil between the United States and Venezuela, three of the four most prominent members of the Confederacion de Beisbol Profesional del Caribe announced they would not send teams from their leagues to the annual Caribbean Series.

The series is scheduled for early February in Caracas, Venezuela.

LIDOM (Dominican Republic), Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico and Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (Puerto Rico) presidents informed the CBPC of their stance at a general assembly meeting this week.

Amid rising tensions between Venezuela and the United States, the CBPC released an official statement on its website in Spanish. It stated that “due to external situations beyond their control,” the three leagues will be unable to attend the 2026 Caribbean Series if it remains in Caracas. In the statement, the CBPC says it respects the position of the Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) that “they possess the necessary organizational conditions” to host the event.

The CBPC also stated it will consider alternatives and continue to monitor the situation.

The Caribbean Series is a prestigious annual round-robin tournament that pairs the champion clubs from various baseball winter leagues in a week-long event. The tournament began in 1949, though it was disbanded in 1961 following the Cuban Revolution and didn’t restart until 1970. For 40 years, the Dominican, Venezuelan, Mexican and Puerto Rican Winter Leagues represented four teams in the tournament.

Those four leagues remain the four permanent members of the Caribbean Series, and other countries have participated over the last two decades. The 2026 Caribbean Series had been set to feature Cuba and Colombia, alongside the four permanent members.

The 2018 and 2019 Caribbean Series were originally scheduled to be played in Venezuela before being moved to Mexico and Panama, respectively, due to political tensions.