Keep Cuba out of hemispheric summits

Keep Cuba out of hemispheric summits
BY MAURICIO CLAVER-CARONEMAURICIOJCC@MSN.COM
10/01/2014 6:08 PM 10/01/2014 6:08 PM

The leadership and resolve of the United States will be tested anew in
the Western Hemisphere as the Seventh Summit of the Americas approaches
in April 2015.

Cuba has already enlisted its regional cohorts — Venezuela, Bolivia,
Ecuador and Nicaragua — in efforts to undermine the key and historic
commitments to democracy made in prior gatherings of the 34
democratically elected leaders of the hemisphere's 35 nations. Cuba's
unrelenting dictatorship has been the odd man out.

The first summit was held in Miami in 1994. Next year's event will be
hosted by Panama. At the 2001 summit, held in Quebec, the 34 leaders of
the Americas' democracies historically declared:

"The maintenance and strengthening of the rule of law and strict respect
for the democratic system are, at the same time, a goal and a shared
commitment and are an essential condition of our presence at this and
future Summits."

Soon after, that declaration was enshrined in international law, under
Article 2 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter:

"The effective exercise of representative democracy is the basis for the
rule of law and of the constitutional regimes of the member states of
the Organization of American States."

No other region in the world can boast of taking such democratic
strides. Europe can match this feat, but it, too, has one remaining
dictatorship — Belarus.

Think about it: Only a decade earlier, the Americas were plagued by
infamous military dictatorships — of the left and of the right. Cuba is
the only one remaining and it wants to join the hemispheric gathering
but without making a commitment or taking a step toward democracy. It is
directing a strategy by the leaders of Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and
Nicaragua, whose authoritarian ambitions are clear, to renege on the
promises of democracy and nullify the progress made.

If an exception is made to allow Cuba's dictatorship to join, then the
summit will be making exceptions tomorrow for a dictatorship in
Venezuela to retain participation, in Bolivia the next day, then
Ecuador, then Nicaragua — a veritable unleashing of authoritarian
ambitions in the hemisphere.

Ideally, this would be a moment for the Western Hemisphere's democrats
to stand up against such encroachment. Yet the region's democrats appear
to be too intimidated by Cuba's coercion and Venezuela's energy prowess
to take a bold stand of resistance.

In recent weeks, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos returned to
Venezuela a group of student democracy activists who had sought
political refuge in Colombia; the students have now been imprisoned for
their opposition activities. Similarly, Santos has denied refuge to
young Cuban opposition activists, putting their lives at great risk.

Newly elected Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela, who as the
summit's host controls its agenda, ironically dismisses opposition to
Cuba's inclusion as simply "political differences among governments." A
few decades ago, Varela did not regard the brutal repression of
Panamanians by Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega's Cuban-armed Brigadas de la
Dignidad as simply "political differences among governments."

Today Panama appears to be mostly interested in recovering the nearly
$500 million it's owed by Cuba and securing the release of a prominent
Panamanian businessman the Castro regime has imprisoned (without trial)
for nearly two years.

Riven by doubts, national interests and — perhaps — fear of Russia's
thuggery, the nations of Europe were unable to challenge Russian
aggression in Ukraine until the United States stood firm. Now in our own
"backyard" and with our own national interests at stake, the United
States must stand in unequivocal defense of democracy in the Americas.
There simply is no excuse for ignoring and acquiescing in Cuba's effort
to pull the nations of the Western Hemisphere backward.

If Panama's government succumbs to Cuban blandishments that it be
included, the Obama administration must refuse to participate at any
senior level. Preserving and fulfilling the commitments made to
democracy is in the best interests of all the nations in the hemisphere.
Doing less risks dismantling democracy in the Americas.

That is not a legacy any U.S. president should want or embrace.

MAURICIO CLAVER-CARONE IS A LAW PROFESSOR IN WASHINGTON, D.C., WHO
PREVIOUSLY SERVED WITH THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT AND IS CURRENTLY DIRECTOR
OF THE U.S.-CUBA DEMOCRACY PAC.

Source: Keep Cuba out of hemispheric summits | The Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article2435842.html