OAS Tells Obama Cuba Si

by Circles Robinson

HAVANA TIMES, June 3 — Hillary Clinton left San Pedro de Sula, Honduras for Egypt on Tuesday wondering whether her lobbying effort on behalf of the Obama administration to keep Cuba suspended from the Organization of American States (OAS) would work. It didn’t.

On Wednesday the 34-member body voted by consensus to bring an end to the 1962 Cold War measure that ejected Cuba for taking a Marxist course.

Cuba has repeatedly said it sees the OAS as a dead horse organization, with a long history of submission to US interests.

Nonetheless, the message from Honduras was that there is no reason to keep Cuba out, leaving it up to the government of Raul Castro to decide when and whether the island chooses to resume active membership.

Commenting on the vote, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said “The Cold War has ended” and “We begin a new era of fraternity and tolerance.”

In a related matter, El Salvador restored diplomatic relations with the Cuba on Monday, leaving the US as the only country in the Western Hemisphere without normal ties with the Caribbean island.