The Organization of American States (OAS) announced Wednesday that it has revoked a 1962 measure suspending communist Cuba, reversing a landmark of the Cold War in the hemisphere.Ecuador's Foreign Minister, Fander Falconi, said the action was taken "without conditions," adding that it sets mechanisms for Cuba's return, including its agreement to comply with OAS conventions on human rights and other issues.
"This is a moment of rejoicing for all of Latin America," Falconi told reporters after the OAS in session in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Delegates took the decision by consensus, which commits the United states to accepting it.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had urged the OAS to require that Cuba made democratic reforms and improve respect for human rights.
For its part Cuba has said repeatedly it has no interest in returning to the 34-member organization, which it calls a tool of the United States. But at the recent Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad there were strong demands for Cuba to be included in the community.
Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro wrote in state newspapers on Wednesday that OAS should not exist and historically has "opened the doors to the Trojan horse" (the United States) to wreak havoc in Latin America.
The United States pressed for and won Cuba's suspension from the OAS in 1962 because of its shift to communism. Every country in the hemisphere except the United States has re-established relations with Cuba.
Clinton was not in Honduras for the final vote. She left earlier saying that the organization had been unable to reach consensus on Cuba. She was unable to deliver a prepared speech before flying to the Middle East to join President Barack Obama in Egypt, where he will deliver a speech directed to the world's 1.5 million Muslims on Thursday.
On Tuesday Clinton urged OAS members to agree to a formula under which the organization would rescind its 1962 suspension of Cuba but tie its return to democratic reform.
"A number of countries were pushing hard for a simple resolution that would lift the suspension and nothing else, (but) we have been making the case that that is not in the best interests of the OAS," Clinton said.
In doing so, Clinton highlighted the administration's outreach to Cuba over the last four months, noting it had lifted restrictions on money transfers and travel to the island by Americans with family there and was resuming long-stalled immigration and postal service talks.
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Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega told reporters the Obama administration is no different from previous administrations. "The president has changed, but not American policy," Ortega said.
Honduran President Manuel Zelaya called Cuba's suspension, and the U.S. embargo on the island, a "day of infamy" and a grave injustice. "Friends, it is time to correct that mistake," he told the meeting.
Source: The Associated Press
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