In Miami, the opening game of the World Baseball Classic was a celebration for Venezuelan fans

MIAMI (AP) — Ronald Acuña Jr. scored easily from third base for Venezuela at the World Baseball Classic, and about a half-dozen of his teammates hopped over the dugout railing to start a celebration.

It was a 1-0 game. In the first inning. Didn't matter.

“For our people, baseball is joy," Jessalyn Suarez, an office manager from Miami, said as she walked into the ballpark about an hour earlier. "Today is joy. Today is not about anything else.”

She was like many other Venezuelan fans Friday — wearing her team's jersey, her country's flag knotted loosely around her neck, the country's yellow-blue-red color scheme painted on her face and the faces of some of her friends.

Unusual political times didn't seem to matter. Thousands of Venezuelans — the stadium was maybe one-third filled for Venezuela vs. Netherlands on Friday, with the overwhelming majority of fans cheering for “La Vinotinto” — showed up to watch their national team play on U.S. soil, two months after American forces executed a military operation in Venezuela to capture deposed leader Nicolás Maduro and bring him to New York to face drug trafficking charges.

“Nobody is thinking about him today,” Jesus Otero, a retired heavy machine operator from nearby Hialeah, said as he watched batting practice. “He's not here.”

There were a few Netherlands caps and shirts in the crowd — but for the most part, the party was very Latin.

At 10:30 a.m. outside the ballpark, more than 90 minutes before first pitch, fans arrived as music from Elsen Pro, Bacilos and Carlos Vives blared over giant speakers. At a gas station across the street from one of the parking garages, someone was selling Venezuela jerseys, caps and flags, all packed up into a couple of duffle bags that were serving as display cases.

Inside, fans cheered from the very first pitch. Many had their phones out to grab video of the team being announcing, taping what was being shown on the huge screen in center field. The upper deck was almost entirely empty, but the lower deck — especially on the third-base side, the one where Venezuela's dugout was — was bustling.

“Venezuelan baseball fans are very motivated and involved with everything that happens with the team,” said Nelson Zurita, a Venezuelan who calls Chile home but flew to Miami for the tournament. “They are aware of every transaction in the anticipation to the Classic. The country will always be focused on sports but especially baseball. ... The players do not want to mix politics with baseball, but the country is completely behind them.”

There were no signs of protests outside the ballpark Friday afternoon; there was a presence of police officers and sheriff's deputies, but that seemed largely for standard security and traffic-control reasons. Fans were going through the usual sorts of ticket-checks and bag searches that are in place for Miami Marlins games and other events at the ballpark.

WBC officials said the night game Friday — Nicaragua vs. Dominican Republic — was trending toward becoming sold-out.

“The presence of this team provides some relief from the everyday political stress," Zurita said. “The emphasis instead is on the Classic. Baseball breathes new life.”

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