Caracas Chronicles

Photograph by Juan Barreto/AFP/Getty Images, sourced via The Guardian

Immediately after the final out on Monday night declared Venezuela’s victory over Italy in the semifinal of the World Baseball Classic, everyone in the country felt that Tuesday, March 17, 2026 was not going to be just another day. 

The table was set for Venezuela to face none other than the United States in Miami’s LoanDepot Park. A lot of us made predictable jokes about not wanting to upset Donald Trump if, by good fortune, we would end up on top. My personal favorite was ‘hey, Trump, we’ll give the championship if you take Diosdado’. 

In my case, I was thinking more about the actual game of baseball. Anticipation, my experience tells me, is usually the best part of life, considering that when reality sets in, when things finally happen, they almost invariably fall short of our hopes and dreams. 

Our team started the WBC Tournament with wins over the Netherlands, Israel, and Nicaragua. Their only defeat came against the formidable Dominican Republic in the last game of the group stage. That loss against the DR meant Venezuela would finish second in their group and therefore faced the better-seated titleholders Japan in the quarterfinals. Venezuela then won 8 to 5. 

It was a good day to sell snacks this Tuesday afternoon. I went to Farmatodo and witnessed quite a lot of people purchasing chips and soda. It was quite evident that we were all going to watch. At gametime, Venezuela might as well be called Paralyzed City. 

Streaming wars & the malaise of spoiler alerts

Since the media landscape has changed so much, and especially since DirecTV left the country in 2020, most Venezuelans don’t have traditional cable providers at home. Most programming is consumed via streaming services. The big kahuna here is MagisTv (also known as Flujo), which is basically an app that contains all the programming you want for a very low price. How do they achieve this? Through piracy, of course. 

The catch here is that streaming, particularly pirate streaming, is full of glitches and delays that become very prevalent during live events that absolutely everyone is watching. The Venezuela-US game falls in that category.

Several high-tension moments of the game were rendered anticlimactic because I could hear people celebrating before the actual moment occurred on the screen I was watching. Fortunately, almost always during this fantastic final, things landed on Venezuela’s side, softening the sting of the dreaded spoiler.  

The capture of Maduro meant a great moment of relief for the vast majority of Venezuelans, yet no public displays of emotion took place. Only now has a long-overdue collective catharsis finally found its release.

For any neutral fan, it was a great game. No one was neutral here. Venezuela won 3-2, and the names of Ronald Acuña, Maikel García, Salvy Pérez, Luis Arráez and company will now be in the pantheon of national heroes, for they’ve achieved the highest accomplishment in high-profile team sports in Venezuelan history. 

The big parade

The streets exploded with joy. It’s been a while since the presence of strangers made me so comfortable. That’s probably because this time we are not strangers at all. All that shouting and car honking was nothing more than the sound of our collective soul. My mind deviated for a moment, thinking about that honking pattern. Those two mid-tempo honks succeeded by three quick honks (hoonk hoonk, honk honk honk!). I wonder if that’s Venezuelan?

Anyway, since January the 3rd Venezuelans, specially those inside the country, have lived in a state of restrained jubilation.

The capture of Maduro meant a great moment of relief for the vast majority of Venezuelans, yet no public displays of emotion took place. Only now has a long-overdue collective catharsis finally found its release.

Can the biggest sporting victory in Venezuela’s history and the subsequent celebration make up for that? 

Sports can be transformational at best and at the very least entertaining. This game will have a multiplying effect. Thousands of already talented children are going to want to replicate this day, and that search will make them better players. It’s very likely many of us will remember fondly where we were when Venezuela was crowned the best baseball team in the world. The rendering of the National Anthem by the players after being crowned champions will be an indelible icon of modern Venezuelan history.    

That’s not nothing, but it still falls short of the feeling of anticipation for the end of our shared nightmare.

Ultimately, I think it’s unfair (albeit inevitable) to compare the scenarios. The anticipation for the game is not equivalent with the anticipation for our so-called freedom. One materialized with the last strikeout. The other is hopefully in progress.  

The game ended with Venezuela on the winning side, and for once anticipation fell short. For once, reality surpassed our dreams.