The presence of baseball as an inseparable part of our culture is indisputable, to be found reflected in music, literature, poetry, and the everyday language of Cubans.
After Nemesio Guillot traveled to the United States from Cuba to study, and returned in the distant 1860s with a ball and glove, baseball quickly caught on among the young.
Baseball went on to become our national sport, the passion of millions, rooted in the idiosyncrasy of the Cuban people, and is more than deserving of being declared Cultural Heritage of the Nation and the country’s principal stadium, the Latinoamericano, designated a National Monument.
Toward this end, Minister of Culture Alpidio Alonso; the President of Cuba’s Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (Inder), Osvaldo Vento; historian Felix Julio Alfonso; and authorities at the National Cultural Heritage Council met at the Latino to discuss the issue. The next step in the process is elaborating a written proposal with the necessary details to make the dreams of many generations of baseball fans come true, as explained by Ernesto Reinoso, national commissioner for the sport.
When the declaration arrives, those who made this discipline great will be remembered, men like Emilio Sabourín, Carlos Maciá and many more who loved both baseball and their country.
