Baseball diplomacy re-emerges in tense U.S.-Cuban relations

Players of the Cuba's national baseball team wait to enter the U.S. Embassy (not pictured) in Havana, Cuba, May 19, 2021. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini

HAVANA (Reuters) - Members of Cuba's baseball team told Reuters on Wednesday the U.S. embassy in Havana had started processing their applications for visas to attend the Americas Olympic qualifying tournament in Florida despite its restrictions on consular services, in a triumph of baseball diplomacy.

The U.S. embassy in Havana suspended consular services three years ago when the Trump administration reduced it to skeletal staffing, sending applicants to embassies abroad instead.