pa2750c.jpg

Cuba’s Back

After 47 years, the Organization of American States, at its annual General Assembly, has repealed its suspension of Cuba’s membership. The outcome signals the growing assertiveness of Latin America's hard-left regimes, as well as the unwillingness of its democracies to confront them.

MEXICO CITY – After 47 years, the Organization of American States, at its annual General Assembly, has repealed its suspension of Cuba’s membership. The so-called ALBA countries (the Spanish acronym for the so-called Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas), which includes Cuba, Venezuela, Honduras, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Dominica, and Ecuador, were able partly to outwit – and partly to “out-blackmail” – Canada, the United States, and the Latin American democracies in getting Cuba rehabilitated.

The OAS did, however, lay down two conditions. Cuba must explicitly request reinstatement, and a dialogue must be initiated in accordance with the premises of the OAS Charter and other basic OAS documents, and in consonance with the principles on which those documents are based – most importantly, democracy and respect for human rights.

Like many diplomatic compromises, the outcome left everyone a bit happy and a bit disappointed. Everyone could claim victory, and no one was obliged to acknowledge defeat.

https://prosyn.org/f3JPXtj