Venezuelans Persecuted Politically in Exile (VEPPEX), a non-governmental organization (NGO), urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday to revoke the U.S. visa of Matías Lacava, son of socialist Venezuelan Governor Rafael Lacava. Matías Lacava is a soccer player who has controversially played for the Venezuelan national time and is a current team member of South Korea’s Ulsan HD FC — one of the 32 participating teams at the upcoming 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, which will take place across several U.S. cities between June 14 and July 13. Ulsan HD FC will first face off against South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns FC on June 18 at the Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida. Lacava’s father, Carabobo Governor Rafael Lacava, was sanctioned by President Donald Trump in 2019 and was included in the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list due his involvement in endemic corruption and for his role in preventing the entry of critical humanitarian aid to Venezuela in that same year. OFAC also pointed out at the time that Rafael Lacava was accused in 2018 of hiding funds in Switzerland and Andorra. The elder Lacava, an “eccentric” Maduro regime official, was described by the New York Times in 2022 as a “cosmopolitan technocrat” and is widely known for his extensive use of “Dracula bat” imagery, which he has co-opted as his own personal brand. Rafael Lacava was recently “reelected” as governor of Carabobo in the fraudulent May 25 regional elections. Last week, Maduro personally accompanied Lacava in his swearing-in ceremony. VEPPEX president José Antonio Colina reportedly sent a letter to Sec. Rubio urging that he revoke Matías Lacava’s U.S. visa and deny him entry to U.S. territory for the upcoming soccer tournament “until a comprehensive human rights and national security review is conducted,” given his direct link with a high-ranking Maduro regime official. Colina pointed out that the U.S. sanctions imposed on his father Rafael Lacava are still presently valid, “which reinforces the seriousness of Lacava’s alliance with an authoritarian regime.” “Allowing immediate family members of sanctioned individuals to benefit from access to U.S. territory and institutions is inconsistent with U.S. policy and principles,” the letter reportedly read. “Allowing the son of a high-ranking official of the Maduro regime to enter the United States for an international sporting event represents a direct affront to the Venezuelan exile community, many of whom have fled precisely from the oppression that this family represents,” the letter continued. “This undermines the message of solidarity with the victims of authoritarianism and contradicts the fundamental principles of justice, accountability and human rights that the United States stands for.” Matías Lacava’s membership in the Venezuelan national team has been the subject of widespread outrage among Venezuelans, especially after the Maduro regime unjustly arrested activist Carlos Chancellor, who is the father of Jhon Chancellor, another Venezuelan soccer player who forms part of the national team. Carlos Chancellor, who remains a political prisoner of the Maduro regime at press time, was arrested last year amid the dissident crackdown launched after the fraudulent July presidential election, in which Maduro was “reelected” for a new six-year term. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) granted precautionary measures to Carlos Chancellor in February, which have gone ignored by the Maduro regime. In early January, Venezuelan immigration attorney and U.S. Army veteran Jhon de La Vega, who resides in the United States, urged Sec. Rubio — at the time a U.S. senator — to investigate Matías Lacava’s then-possible entry into U.S. territory at a time when the Venezuelan and U.S. national soccer teams had a scheduled friendly match in the United States. Days later, de la Vega reportedly denounced having received threats from alleged pro-Maduro regime groups in response to his request to Rubio. Matías Lacava ultimately did not participate in the soccer match and did not travel to the United States in January, reportedly due to “personal and administrative reasons.” Last week, President Trump signed a proclamation imposing travel restrictions on immigrants and nonimmigrant nationals from 12 listed countries, while also imposing specific U.S. visa restrictions on seven other nations, including Venezuela and Cuba. The two allied anti-U.S. regimes accused Sec. Rubio of engaging in “racist” and “hateful” behavior over the restrictions. Section four of the proclamation details that the restrictions shall not apply to “any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event as determined by the Secretary of State.” “Your continued leadership in defense of democracy and human rights has been a source of hope for the Venezuelan diaspora,” Colina reportedly wrote in the letter to Sec. Rubio. “We trust that you will take swift and decisive action on this matter, which carries profound symbolic and moral weight for our community.” Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.