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AMERICAS: OAS Opens
Doors to Cuba Without Conditions
By Thelma Mejía
SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras (IPS) - After heated
debate, the 39th General Assembly of the
Organisation of American States (OAS) decided
Wednesday to lift its 47-year suspension of Cuba,
without conditions.
At its meeting in Honduras, the OAS sought to "fix
an historic error" committed when socialist Cuba was
expelled in 1962 from the main forum for political
cooperation in the hemisphere as a result of
pressure from the United States.
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."
Honduran Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas, one of the
main architects of Wednesday’s resolution, said that
"as of now, Cuba’s participation in the OAS will be
reinstated by means of dialogue on Cuba’s request
and in the framework of the democratic practices
that govern the OAS."
"(A)s the host country for this assembly, we are
pleased with the amends made to the island nation.
We have begun to build a new history in our
relations, of tolerance, respect, solidarity, the
self-determination of nations and the right to
organise ourselves," said Rodas.
After the resolution was read out, the ministers and
other officials at the assembly gave a standing
ovation.
The leaders taking part in the conference included
Nicaraguan and Paraguayan Presidents Daniel Ortega
and Fernando Lugo, and U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton, who left the assembly early
to join President Barack Obama in Egypt.
The tense debate on readmitting Cuba completely
overshadowed the main theme of the general assembly,
"Toward a Culture of Non-Violence", while protests
were held outside the convention centre where the
two-day meeting took place in the northwestern
Honduran city of San Pedro Sula
The demonstrators included anti-Castro Cubans led by
dissident Huber Matos, a former ally of Fidel
Castro, as well as supporters of the government of
Raúl Castro belonging to social movements from
Honduras and Nicaragua.
Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said Wednesday that
"dialogue has prevailed and we are observing an
historic event – the coming together again of the
countries of the Americas, of which we are proud.
"I want to tell Cuban comandante (and former
president) Fidel Castro that today history has done
him justice, today the world has been given a lesson
in international law, and we can proudly say that
the Cold War is over in the Americas," added the
centre-left leader.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western
Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon said "We removed
an historical impediment to Cuba's participation in
the OAS, but also established a process of
engagement with Cuba, a pathway forward based on the
principles, purposes, values and practices of the
OAS and the inter-American system." After stating
that the United States had reaffirmed its commitment
to building good relations with its neighbours based
on respect, dialogue and cooperation, he said the
focus is now on the future, "rather than on having a
stale 47-year debate." He hailed the decision as an
important step for the future of the OAS because it
will strengthen the hemispheric body, and said the
United States worked hard to achieve a resolution
backed by a broad consensus.
In a speech that received a one-minute ovation from
the conference, he added that Obama had called for a
new start to relations with Cuba, that the
administration was gradually moving in that
direction, and that he hoped negotiations would
begin soon.
He also said that while the Obama administration had
given out signals for change with Cuba, it would not
stop defending democratic principles and respect for
human rights.
Clinton said in a statement that "This outcome is in
keeping with our forward-looking, principled
approach to relations with Cuba and our hemisphere.
"We must now build on this success by meeting our
goals with actions that move us beyond rhetoric to
results, and advance the mission which each of our
nations have pledged to pursue," she added.
Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Fender Falconí said the
most significant aspect of the resolution was that
it was adopted "without conditions of any kind,
which is a good sign, because an historic error has
been corrected."
Falconí told reporters that the consensus was
reached "at the last minute after two days of
continuous deliberations, when at least three
different texts were discussed, until we found the
right one…to keep the meeting from becoming a
failure."
The representatives of Chile, Argentina, Brazil and
Costa Rica highlighted the vote by acclamation and
the role played by the delegations of the United
States, Mexico, Canada, Brazil and Argentina which,
along with their counterparts from Venezuela,
Nicaragua and Honduras, made every effort to hammer
out a consensus agreement.
Several foreign ministers said it is now up to Cuba
to decide whether it will join the OAS under the
"democratic principles" outlined in the hemispheric
body’s charter.
Cuba has often stated that it is not interested in
joining the OAS, which Raúl Castro said in April
"should disappear."
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said last
week that "the OAS is totally anachronistic. It
serves other interests.''
In 1962, 14 countries voted in favour of suspending
Cuba, and there were six abstentions - Argentina,
Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Mexico – and
only one vote against, cast by Cuba.
Later resolutions slapping OAS sanctions on Cuba
only received two-thirds support.
"The people of the Americas are celebrating that
this blotch against Cuba has been wiped away and
that justice was done to Fidel Castro and the Cuban
people," Honduran trade union leader Carlos Reyes
told IPS.
In an opinion column published Wednesday in the
Cuban state press, before the OAS resolution was
announced, Fidel Castro praised the signs of
"rebelliousness" by the countries that advocated
Cuba’s full return to the hemispheric body. |
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