China Reports Cuba Won at OAS

Cuba wins OAS diplomatic battle
www.chinaview.cn 2009-06-05 12:47:02

HAVANA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Cuba has won a major diplomatic battle against the United States at the Organization of American States (OAS), when the organization revoked a resolution issued 47years ago to exclude Cuba, although the island country said it will not return to that mechanism.

The 1962 resolution to exclude Cuba from the OAS was revoked on Wednesday during the 39th OAS General Assembly held in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

The document revoking the resolution, at the beginning, was agreed by a special group of 10 ministers and then it was presented to the delegates from the 34 member countries by Honduran Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas.

Cuban authorities said on Thursday in a communiqué broadcasted by local TV that the OAS decision was a "historic rectification."

"In a historic day..., the OAS General Assembly derogated without conditions the resolution that excluded Cuba from that organization," the communiqué said.

"Cuba has not requested (rejoining the OAS) and it does not want to return to the OAS... But it recognized the political value, the symbolic significance and the rebellion of this decision boosted by the people's governments of Latin America," the communiqué said.

The official daily "Granma" said on Thursday that "Fidel (Castro) and the Cuban people will be absolvent by history," when mentioning the words of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya at the General Assembly.

The newspaper also carried remarks by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who said the revocation "leaves without effect the expulsion of Cuba, it cleans a spot over the organization."

Cuba was excluded from the OAS in 1962 after most of the member countries, under the pressure from the United States, agreed that Cuba's socialism was incompatible with the principles of the Inter-American system.

At the end of 2008, a number of Latin American leaders, including Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Nicaragua's Ortega, Bolivia's president Evo Morales and Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, requested the reentry of Cuba to the continental political dialogue.

The issues was discussed at the 5th Summit of the Americas held in Trinidad and Tobago in April, but due to disagreements between the United States and Latin American countries, participants agreed to bring the issue to the General Assembly in Honduras.

Despite the revocation, some Cuban experts believe the discussion of Cuba at the OAS itself showed there are no common interests in the region and that it is necessary to form a Latin American and Caribbean organization.

But experts agree that it is a recognition of the "dignity and strength" of Cuba for 50 years of the Socialist Revolution.

The main loser of the battle is the United States, which failed to block the process of revocation.

With the door open for Cuba to rejoin the OAS, experts say, the next step is expected to be the lifting of the U.S. embargo against Cuba, which was imposed some 50 years ago.