Cuba on top of ‘VI Summit of the Americas’

Once again, as during the 2009 Summit of the Americas, the recent VI edition of the outmoded Summit finished without a declaration. According to the Summit’s bylaws, such a declaration must be unanimous.

The three main issues on the 2012 Summit’s agenda were including Cuba in the Summit; the Argentinean demand to return Las Malvinas islands (which the British colonialists call the Falklands); and the legalization or decriminalization of drug use to combat drug trafficking. The United States and Canada opposed all three proposals.

Held in Cartagena, Colombia, the Summit was a meeting of heads of states of the member countries of the Organization of American States. The OAS meeting showed a consensus of the Latin American and Caribbean nations to include Cuba and to strongly reject the U.S. and Canada’s only dissenting voices.

This outcome shows the impact that the ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of Our America) countries are having in the region. Even right-wing leaders like the host, Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos — who is the U.S.’s closest ally — had to reject the U.S. exclusion of Cuba. They had to consider the possibility that they would be excluded from the region’s economic trade after continuing to side with the U.S.

Santos’ words reflected these fears: “In today’s world that road [excluding Cuba] is not justified. It is an anachronism that keeps us anchored to a Cold War era already outdated for several decades. As it would be unacceptable to hold another hemispheric gathering with a Haiti still suffering, it would also be [unacceptable] without the presence of Cuba.” (telesurtv.net)

Latin America, although impacted by the worldwide financial crisis, has fared much better than its northern neighbors, the U.S. and Canada. In general, the policies adopted by the progressive governments of the region on behalf of the masses and the diminishing reliance on the U.S. economy, have helped to protect their countries from a protracted crisis.

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa had decided long prior to the Summit not to participate. His public statements strongly denounced the U.S. blockade against Cuba and exposed the futility of these gatherings, which he considers a waste of time and resources that only serve for a photo opportunity.

Correa had said many times that as long as Cuba is not present at these Summits, Ecuador will not attend. He considers these meetings useless because they do not address the real problems in the region.

President Daniel Ortega from Nicaragua also protested Cuba’s exclusion by not attending. Instead, he hosted a Day in Solidarity with Cuba in his country. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez also skipped the Summit to continue a series of cancer treatments in Cuba, sending Exterior Minister Nicolás Maduro in his place.

Maduro and Bolivian President Evo Morales led the strong condemnation of Cuba’s exclusion on behalf of the ALBA. Except for the U.S. and Canada, the other members stated that if Cuba does not participate in the next Summit, neither will they.

U.S. President Barack Obama, for the first time at one of these Summits, stayed to listen to all the presentations. U.S. presidents usually leave after they speak. This, however, did not mean that he was more interested or conciliatory. Rather, it was an attempt to “wash” his country’s image in the face of the Latin America and Caribbean bloc demands and the thoroughly embarrassing incident days before the Summit, involving Secret Service and military officers. A dozen Secret Service officers were sent home after a scandal in a hotel which exposed the routine misbehavior of U.S. forces abroad: heavy drinking and prostitution.

Obama thus had to listen to Brazilian President Dilma Rouseff, who demanded that the U.S. treat economic powerhouse Brazil as an equal.

This might well be the last OAS Summit. As President Correa has said, “This is not a time of changes, but a change of times.” The countries south of the Río Grande have devised several other mechanisms, like the ALBA, CELAC, Mercosur, etc., which make the OAS an obsolete imperialist apparatus not welcomed in the region. Latin America and the Caribbean have spoken and said, “USA Out!”