The 2019 Caribbean Series will be played Feb. 4-10 at the Rod Carew Stadium in Panama City, the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation confirmed this week. Originally scheduled to begin Saturday in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, the Caribbean Series has been relocated to Panama because of political turmoil that led to baseball authorities deciding to move the international tournament away from the South American nation.

Last week, Major League Baseball strongly recommended that players and staff not travel to Venezuela for the tournament in the wake of the violent protests, as Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido each lay claim to power.

"From the time Barquisimeto was chosen, we though that Venezuela was apt to put this event together, but we also tried to line up alternative sites in case of any kind of trouble," Caribbean Federation president Juan Francisco Puello Herrera told Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com. "When we looked at the situation, and although a lot of countries came to us with options, we chose Panama because it offers a lot of advantages at this time."

The Caribbean Series is an annual showdown between the winter league champions from Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. Panama will also play in this year's tournament, according to Sanchez. The Series offers MLB scouts a chance to evaluate players in game action and sign them before spring training.

This is the second straight year that the Confederation has moved the tournament out of Venezuela. In 2018, the Series was held in Guadalajara, Mexico. This will be the fourth time Panama is hosting the Caribbean Series; the country previously hosted in 1952, 1956 and 1960.