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Frederich Cepeda went 4-for-5 including two doubles and a triple and drove in five runs to lead Cuba to a come from behind 8-4 win Saturday over Venezuela in the semifinals off the Caribbean Series. Cuba faces Mexico in the finals on Sunday.

A group of Cuban dissidents said Thursday at the US Congress that they felt betrayed by the agreement reached in December by Washington and Havana to restore diplomatic relations and urged Congress not to lift the embargo on the island.

The Dominican Republic defeated Mexico 3-2 Thursday night in San Juan, Puerto Rico, giving Cuba a back door entry into semifinals of the Caribbean Series to be played on Saturday.

After a brief resurrection on Wednesday with an extra-inning win over Puerto Rico, Cuba returned to its losing ways on Thursday afternoon, defeated 6-2 by the Venezuelan team at the Caribbean Series.

Temperatures will be relatively high for this time of year and the maximum will remain hovering above 30° C (86° F) although with the effect of the wind it will not be stifling. In short: Only some rain on Friday and the rest good weather in the capital.

After two losses, Cuba faced a must win situation on Wednesday and came through with a 3-2 ten-inning win over Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Series. Today at noon they face Venezuela in their final game of the qualifying round of play.

First Cuba lost to the Dominican Republic, their second consecutive defeat in the tournament. Then they saw two of their key players, Vladimir Gutiérrez and Dainer Moreira, abandon the team, presumably hoping to land a Major League contract.

The Obama administration has taken an important step to facilitate access to the Major Leagues by Cuban baseball players, who will now only require a general employment license to enter into a contract with professional baseball teams in the United States.