ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES
OAS' Cuba move touches off outcry
A decision to retract the Organization of American States' 1962
suspension of Cuba was met with swift calls by some U.S. lawmakers to
cut off funding.
BY LESLEY CLARK AND FRANCES ROBLES
frobles@MiamiHerald.com
SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras -- Furious members of Congress on Wednesday
threatened to cut off funding for the Organization of American States
after top diplomats gathered here for its annual assembly repealed
Cuba's suspension from the hemispheric group, ending a decades-old
remnant of the Cold War.
''The OAS is a putrid embarrassment,'' declared U.S. Reps. Mario and
Lincoln Diaz-Balart, both Miami Republicans, in a joint statement.
The lifting of Cuba's 1962 suspension was the result of weeks of
back-room brokering, plus an hours-long private meeting in San Pedro
Sula with foreign ministers, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton.
It ended Wednesday with the OAS' leftist bloc accepting a paragraph that
refers to Cuba abiding by ''practices, purposes and principles of the
OAS,'' words that Cuba's allies had just the night before flat-out
rejected, sources close to the negotiations said.
In the end, representatives on both sides gathered here declared
victory, although Cuba's rejoining the organization will not be automatic.
Cuban-American members of Congress blasted the move as a betrayal.
''Far from strengthening the OAS, today's resolution flies in the face
of the organization's founding charter,'' Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, also
a Miami Republican, said. ``No U.S. taxpayer funds should go towards
supporting this sham of an organization that once prided itself on its
historic commitment to democracy and human rights.''
Retracting Cuba's suspension does not mean the hemisphere's last
communist country automatically rejoins an organization that prides
itself in being the region's leading promoter of human rights and democracy.
The resolution lifting Cuba's suspension says Cuba has to take the next
step by initiating dialogue with the OAS and its participation would be
''in conformity with the practices, purposes and principles of the
OAS,'' a key paragraph that Washington lobbied to include.
But sources close to the talks said that, faced with pressure from
Cuba's allies, the U.S. State Department was forced to drop its appeal
to include a specific reference to the OAS's 2001 Inter-American
Democratic Charter, which calls for its member states to embrace democracy.
The United States said the decision was a solid step in the right
direction, and credited Clinton for helping craft an agreement that just
weeks ago would have contained no references to OAS core values.
''Today's resolution was an act of statesmanship,'' said Thomas Shannon,
the State Department's top diplomat in the hemisphere, who was recently
named ambassador to Brazil. ``Today, we addressed and bridged an
historic divide in the Americas while reaffirming our profound
commitment to democracy and the fundamental human rights of our peoples.''
Clinton added in a statement: ``I am pleased that everyone came to agree
that Cuba cannot simply take its seat.''
Cuba has publicly reiterated that it has no interest in joining the OAS,
which it considers a tool of the U.S. ''empire.'' After weeks of
blasting the organization, the Cuban government was mostly silent on the
matter Wednesday.
The Paraguayan media quoted the Cuban ambassador Héctor Igarza as saying
the nation has no intention of returning.
''A truly authentic organization would be one where Latin Americans and
Caribbeans could discuss, debate and look for solutions to their
problems without intrusion from external actors of the OAS,'' he said.
Senior White House advisor Daniel Restrepo told The Miami Herald that
the next move is Cuba's.
''The OAS is a very uncomfortable place for Cuba because it's an
instrument that stands up for words like democracy and human rights,''
he said. ``That's an uncomfortable environment for this Cuban
government. So the onus is on them. Do they want to be really part of a
system that defends and promotes those values, or does it not want to do
that?''
Restrepo was among a team of top Washington officials who came to San
Pedro Sula to persuade Latin American neighbors to include references to
democracy in the resolution taken Wednesday.
Washington had long opposed Cuba's reentry into the organization,
because of the 2001 charter. But as the clamor to allow Cuba back
regardless of the 2001 charter became louder, it became increasingly
clear that Washington would not be able to block Cuba's readmission.
So the advisors went to work instead persuading countries to push for
conditions, saying that without them, they risked making a mockery of
the OAS. A special task force of 10 foreign ministers from the U.S.,
Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Honduras, Belize, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Venezuela
and Argentina negotiated until late Tuesday and again Wednesday.
Groups that call for engaging Cuba said Obama made the right move.
''We congratulate President Obama and Secretary Clinton for a courageous
stance in the face of enormous diplomatic pressure,'' CANF chairman
Jorge Mas Santos said in a statement.
Dissidents on the island had mixed reactions, with hard-liner Martha
Beatriz Roque saying it ``meant nothing.''
The fact that the United States was even willing to discuss Cuba's
reentry -- inconceivable under the George W. Bush administration --
persuaded a number of countries to side with Washington, sources said.
''Our good will generated good will,'' one senior U.S. official said,
requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. ``That
helped move the thing and avoid a meltdown.''
Just Tuesday night, a deal was struck at about 7 p.m. It collapsed about
four hours later after Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia ran the deal
past their bosses, sources close to the talks said.
The next morning Cuba's allies realized they were outnumbered and agreed
to accept the document as it was worded.
One of the Senate's only two Cuban Americans decried that language, with
New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez calling it ''weak'' and ``absurdly vague.''
Menendez said the agreement ''allows for loose interpretation of what
should be a clear set of fundamental democratic principles and standards
regarding human rights.'' He warned Wednesday that Congress would now
debate ``how much we are willing to support the OAS as an institution.''
The OAS gets about 60 percent of its funding from the United States.
''The Cold War has ended today in San Pedro Sula,'' Honduran President
Manuel Zelaya said.
Miami Herald staff writer Jacqueline Charles contributed to this report
from Washington, D.C.
OAS' Cuba move touches off outcry - South Florida - MiamiHerald.com (3
June 2009)
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/v-fullstory/story/1080539.html
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