The New York Times reports that Cuban bands like Septeto Nacional de Ignacio Pineiro (which hasn’t played in the US in nearly 70 years) are finding it easier to qualify for visas to come to the US. In the past, only groups that could show an ideological break from Fidel Castro could come to the US, but that de facto requirement has largely gone away as US-Cuban relations have improved in recent years. According to the Times:

''We are neither actively promoting nor actively impeding these artistic exchanges,'' said a State Department official, who asked that his name not be used because of department rules and the volatility of the subject. ''This is a regulatory rather than a political process.'' He added that as long as Cuban artists and performers comply with immigration regulations, ''the visas are generally approved.''

Dave Allison's attempt to move from professional to amateur hockey has been derailed by immigration issues, leaving the Des Moines Buccaneers scrambling for a new coach two weeks before training camp is to open. Allison, who coached the Iowa Stars for three seasons, was hired by the Bucs on June 30. But the resident of Canada resigned last week to take a job as a scout with the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins because it was unclear whether he would qualify for the proper work permit if he stayed with the Bucs.

"Because it's an amateur team, you have to show an extraordinary ability" in your profession to get a work permit, Allison said Wednesday. "It's for sort of obscure vocations. I love coaching, but I have a huge responsibility to my family. (The Penguins job) allows me to stay in Des Moines and stay in hockey." Allison has a P-1 work permit typically issued to professional athletes and those working for pro sports leagues. But he was told he needed to get an O-1 work permit to coach the U.S. Hockey League team. The O-1 is for someone with "extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or extraordinary achievements in the motion picture and television field, who have received 'sustained national or international acclaim,' " according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

That process can take up to a month, and Allison said as time dragged on, he became less certain that he would be granted the O-1. With a job offer from the Penguins, he eventually felt compelled to act. "He came in and said, 'I can't wait any longer,' " Bucs general manager J.P. Parise said. "Needless to say, I almost had a heart attack. That is not what I wanted to hear. I was so counting on him. He was a good coach." Parise said he has two coaching candidates, and he plans to name a successor Friday. Training camp begins Sept. 9.

"It's a little stressful, but we will fix it," Parise said. "I promised the fans and our management that we'd clean up and start fresh (after finishing last in the division three consecutive seasons). And we will do that." Allison's new job includes scouting USHL players. "I was looking forward to coaching the Bucs, and I wish them well," he said. "I still think they will get things turned around and have a terrific season."

Recent changes in U.S. immigration law and growing competition in baseball for raw talent have allowed the minor-league farm system to flourish with imported players. It has been a home run for globalization, but bad news for U.S.-born players, who suddenly have much more competition. Across the minor and major leagues, the total number of foreign-born players is growing fast, to almost 3,500 of the 8,532 players under contract this summer, from 2,964 three years ago.

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This summer's crop of foreign players in the minors includes baseball's first-ever pros from India, two of them on the Pittsburgh Pirates' Gulf Coast league team. That league's rosters include players from Honduras, Haiti, Russia and the Czech Republic.

Eight teams have minor leaguers from Brazil, including Fábio Murakami, an outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies' Williamsport, Pa., minor-league team, the Crosscutters. Mr. Murakami is one of several South Americans of Japanese descent in the minors, a list that includes Claudio Fukunaga and Lucas Nakandakare, both from Argentina and under contract to Tampa Bay.

One Red Sox farm team boasts an even more exotic tandem: the brothers Crew Tipene Moanaroa, called "Boss," and Hohua Moanaroa, called "Moko." Born in New South Wales, Australia, the Moanaroas are believed to be the first members of New Zealand's Maori tribe to play baseball professionally in the U.S. "Boss" is a first baseman. "Moko" plays outfield.

New Zealand's representative in the minors is Scott Campbell. He plays third base for the Blue Jays' Eastern League affiliate, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.