He experienced it firsthand on the night of the bombings. “They hit the port and the military quarters, a hundred meters from my house.” The voice of Jairo Ramosthe manager of San Marino Baseballcomes directly from Venezuela and it is full of tension. A story that dramatically brings the ties – sporting, political and institutional – between the Republic of San Marino and a country that for years has been experiencing a deep crisis. Ramos, 54 years old, Venezuelan by birth, but a historical figure of San Marino and Italian baseball, was in La Guaira when the attacks began during the night. US military raids against Venezuela. Bombs, fire, columns of smoke: “It was a very difficult night – he said – Now it’s calm, but it wasn’t easy to hear and see everything so close”. His testimony takes on a value that goes beyond the personal story, because it intertwines sport and geopolitics, everyday life and international relations.
Venezuela, in fact, has been a fundamental source of talent for European baseball and in particular for Italian and San Marino baseball for decades. Even the current roster of San Marino Baseball and the recent additions – including athletes born in Venezuela but with Italian passports – testify to a continuous bond, made up of exchanges, opportunities and integration.
On a political and institutional level, the Venezuelan crisis it officially entered the San Marino debate as early as September 2024, when the Foreign Affairs Council Commission approved an agenda presented by the Pdcs. The document, signed by all the council forces, called for free elections, respect for human rights and a path of democratic reconciliation, following the Venezuelan elections in July 2024, not recognized by the European Union, the UN and numerous international organisations. The military attack launched in the last few hours by the United States, with raids on Caracas and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, now reopens even more complex scenarios. A new escalation that alarms the international community and makes the concerns expressed by San Marino in recent months dramatically relevant.
In this context, the voice of Jairo Ramos becomes symbolic: that of a man divided between two worlds, the wounded Venezuela and San Marino which welcomed him. A bond made of sport, people and values, which today faces the harshness of history and a crisis which, even from Titan, cannot be ignored.
Loriano Zannoni
