Venezuelan baseball players in US show support for fans back home

World Today

While the ongoing unrest in Venezuela has disrupted daily life INSIDE the country, it’s also impacting Venezuelans living abroad – including some 100 professional baseball players in the United States.

CGTN’s William Denselow explains the message they’re sending to the fans back home.

Follow William Denselow on Twitter @willdenze

The turbulence back in his native Venezuela has hit major league baseball pitcher Felipe Rivero hard. Like millions of people in the country, his family is struggling with the lack of basic commodities. His teammate, the Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli, said it’s important to try and not let some of those emotions spill over onto the field.

 

 

A number of Venezuelan players are trying to use their status as ball players to help raise awareness about the situation back home. Earlier in the season Cervelli, Rivero and others in the league decided to make a statement. The message was simple- “S.O.S. Venezuela.”

 

A post shared by Francisco Cervelli (@fran_cervelli) on

Cervelli also helped create an online platform for others players to get involved. He said there’s been strong support but he wants more people to get behind them.