political face painting

Yes, I'm a sports fan, but I've never been a face painter. My rooting only goes so far, and stops somewhere short of applying paint to my face and chest to match the colors of my favorite team.

This week, face painting took on a whole new meaning. At the World Baseball Classic, 10 fans at last night's Cuba-Dominican Republic game each wrote a letter on their shirt that, taken together, spelled "Down With Fidel" in Spanish. During the game, an airplane flew over the stadium carrying the same message.

Jack Curry quoted the fans in today's N.Y. Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/14/sports/baseball/14cuba.html):

"We feel Cuba should change," said Alfred Melero, another Cuban who lives here. "Cuba should be free. The players should have rights. They should have the right to play anywhere they want, like the Dominicans and the Venezuelans."

"We want down with Fidel," said Carlos Leal, one of the protesters. "This is a good opportunity to show the world that we want free elections in Cuba, the same thing as in the U.S."

The Cubans have always taken pride in their baseball program, doing well in international competition against amateurs from other countries. But against pro competition, Cuba has struggled on the field in the inaugural WBC, losing by combined 19-5 score to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. For all the talk and secrecy about Cuban baseball, once it got out in the light of day, the team's flaws were exposed.

You could say the same for Castro's government. By playing in a high profile competition on an equal footing against the rest of the world, Cuba has opened itself up for this kind of criticism. Baseball has already been something of a democratizing influence in Cuba, with high profile Cuban players embarrassing Castro by jumping ship (literally) to come face greater baseball challenges and live a better life here in the states. For the Cuban people, this is a reminder that maybe the grass is greener on the other side; facing the reality of internationalization in one arena (or ballpark) may help Cubans realize that further internationalization can only be a good thing. In the WBC, a Cuban loss may be more valuable than a win, because it can show the country that it still has a long way to go.

Baseball isn't everything, but in a small way it has convinced Cuba to open its door to the world. And every time you open that door, it gets tougher to close.