U.S. Baseball Game Halted by Authorities

Cuban authorities took away baseball bats, balls and gloves from Cuban youths to keep them from playing with U.S. officials in Havana, the State Department said.

When the Americans, who one official said were chiefly Marines who guard the U.S. interests section in Havana, tried to use their own equipment to play, the authorities stopped the youths from entering the field.

“This is a normal and a good thing, I think, to have interactions with locals, to help support democracy and human rights activists,” State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said. “The Cuban government didn’t think so, however.”