OAS lifts 47-year-old suspension of Cuba (with conditions)
After two days of intense negotiations, the Organization of American States agreed Wednesday to lift a cold war provision that suspended Cuba from the group but also accepted a list of conditions, backed by Washington, that Havana would have to meet before being allowed to return.
The compromise was a stunning about-face for the 34-nation group, which had been in what appeared to be an intractable stalemate that threatened to polarize the hemisphere.
On one side, Washington had opposed any measure that would have ended Cuba's suspension–imposed in 1962–without requiring that the island nation agree to abide by the organization's democratic principles before being allowed to return. Venezuela and Nicaragua led the opposition to any provision that set conditions for Cuba's return.
The compromise was a stunning about-face for the 34-nation group . . .
On Wednesday, however, Venezuela and Nicaragua suddenly backed away from their hard line. A senior State Department official said President Obama had called at least one of his Latin American counterparts–including President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil–to press for help in ending the impasse. A Latin American diplomat said that the risk of losing United States support for the organization, which gets 60 percent of its funds from Washington, weighed heavily on the group's thinking. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, according to diplomatic protocol. In the end, each side claimed victory, hailing the compromise as historic, even though it was largely symbolic. The resolution, for example, says that Cuba cannot return unless it asks to, and Havana has said repeatedly it has no interest in rejoining the group, which President Raúl Castro has denounced as a tool of American domination. Still, the difficult diplomatic exercise was a turning point for a region long dominated by the United States. Washington moved significantly closer to other governments in the hemisphere on the emotional issue of how to deal with Cuba. And officials speculated that the good will generated by the compromise could go a long way to bolster Washington's relations with a region that has long complained of being treated as a junior partner. President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras said, "The cold war has ended today here in San Pedro Sula," where the organization was meeting, Reuters reported. "We have made a wise and honorable decision." In a written statement, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said, "The member nations of the O.A.S. showed flexibility and openness today, and as a result we reached a consensus that focuses on the future instead of the past."
On Wednesday, however, Venezuela and Nicaragua suddenly backed away from their hard line. A senior State Department official said President Obama had called at least one of his Latin American counterparts–including President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil–to press for help in ending the impasse. A Latin American diplomat said that the risk of losing United States support for the organization, which gets 60 percent of its funds from Washington, weighed heavily on the group's thinking. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, according to diplomatic protocol. In the end, each side claimed victory, hailing the compromise as historic, even though it was largely symbolic. The resolution, for example, says that Cuba cannot return unless it asks to, and Havana has said repeatedly it has no interest in rejoining the group, which President Raúl Castro has denounced as a tool of American domination. Still, the difficult diplomatic exercise was a turning point for a region long dominated by the United States. Washington moved significantly closer to other governments in the hemisphere on the emotional issue of how to deal with Cuba. And officials speculated that the good will generated by the compromise could go a long way to bolster Washington's relations with a region that has long complained of being treated as a junior partner. President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras said, "The cold war has ended today here in San Pedro Sula," where the organization was meeting, Reuters reported. "We have made a wise and honorable decision." In a written statement, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said, "The member nations of the O.A.S. showed flexibility and openness today, and as a result we reached a consensus that focuses on the future instead of the past."