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LATIN AMERICA: Cuba
Wants Integration Without OAS
By
Patricia Grogg
HAVANA, (IPS) - For decades, Fidel Castro has been
the most vociferous opponent of an eventual return
by Cuba to the Organisation of American States
(OAS), which he has referred to as a "colonial
ministry," "odious," "shameless" and "rotten." "The
OAS was the accomplice to all of the crimes
committed against Cuba," he also wrote.
Nevertheless, he closely followed the 39th OAS
General Assembly that ended Wednesday in Honduras
with a resolution that put an end to the 47-year
suspension of Cuba without conditions.
"Never before has such rebelliousness been seen,"
wrote former president Fidel Castro in a column
published Wednesday, prior to the OAS decision,
referring to the debate on opening up the doors to
Cuba’s readmission.
As if he had already said everything he needed to
say, the convalescent Castro has not yet publicly
referred to the OAS decision.
But on Thursday, the president of the Cuban
parliament, Ricardo Alarcón, described the debate in
the hemispheric body as "a great victory for Latin
America and the Caribbean, as well as for the people
of Cuba."
In Alarcón’s view, the decision to revoke the 1962
resolution that expelled Cuba "puts an end to an
injustice and a throwback to truly prehistoric
times." However, he said Cuba’s view of the OAS
would not change: "I don’t know how many times we
have said it: what happened yesterday does nothing
to modify what Cuba thought yesterday, the day
before yesterday, or today."
The moderator of a TV programme on the issue said
"Cuba has not asked to, and does not want to, return
to the OAS, which has a shady history and is a
sellout. But it recognises the political value, the
symbolism and the rebelliousness of this decision
driven by governments of the people in Latin
America."
Political analyst Luis Suárez, an expert on
integration issues who took part in the programme,
said the decision cannot be understood without
taking into account the "historical precedent" of
how in the last few years, the different forms of
"resistance" by the people of Latin America and the
Caribbean have gradually changed the political
panorama in the region.
He said the decision reached by the region’s foreign
ministers at the OAS assembly was also "a defeat for
U.S. policy towards Cuba and the region," although
he pointed out that "regardless of the significance
of this resolution, the OAS has not changed, and
should apologise to the countries of Latin America
for its actions at the service of Washington’s
interests."
The "mother of all battles" will now be creating a
Latin American and Caribbean regional body that does
not include the United States, said Suárez.
"That is where the continent’s future will be
decided," said the analyst.
In brief remarks to IPS, Suárez said such an
organisation is no longer just wishful thinking, but
is a project "that is being discussed" and that will
be on the agenda of the second Latin American and
Caribbean summit on integration and development, to
be held in Mexico.
"Cuba’s foreign policy towards the region does not
involve a return to the OAS, but a continued focus
on working for the creation of an organisation
without the U.S.," said the expert, who added that
this position is well-known to the governments that
pushed for and applauded the lifting of the OAS
suspension of Cuba.
The Cuban government has never hidden its lack of
interest in returning to the Washington-based
inter-American body. In Suárez’s view, that position
is not going to change, and cannot be interpreted as
a snub against the rest of the governments of the
region.
The OAS resolution adopted Wednesday by consensus
revoked the Jan. 31, 1962 decision to suspend Cuba
on the grounds that its "adherence...to
Marxism-Leninism is incompatible with the
inter-American system."
The resolution also states that Cuba's re-entry
would be the result of a "process of dialogue" that
would begin at Havana’s request, under the
"practices, proposals and principles" of the OAS.
Suárez noted that Cuban President Raúl Castro also
rejected Cuba’s eventual return to the
inter-American system when he attended the first
Latin American and Caribbean summit on integration
and development, hosted by Brazil in December.
"The North Sea will merge with the South Seas and a
serpent will be born from an eagle’s egg before Cuba
joins the OAS," he said at the summit.
On that occasion, Cuba officially rejoined the Rio
Group - the main Latin American policy-coordinating
forum - which held an extraordinary presidential
meeting during the Latin American and Caribbean
summit, the first such regional gathering to take
place without the participation of the United
States.
That process of regional reinsertion has continued
this year with visits to Havana by nearly a dozen
Latin American leaders, the last of whom, President
Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, arrived Tuesday night and
will stay through Friday.
And this week, El Salvador’s new left-wing President
Mauricio Funes restored diplomatic ties with Cuba,
making the United States the only country in the
hemisphere without normal bilateral relations with
this socialist Caribbean island nation. |
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