Despite being a founding member of the Organization of American States (OAS), Cuba was effectively suspended from 31 January 1962 to 3 June 2009. Thus, for almost the entire time that the OAS has been operating, Cuba has been barred from sending representatives to the OAS and effectively had its membership suspended. It was not until 3 June 2009 that foreign ministers of OAS member countries assembled for the OAS's 39th General Assembly in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, passed a vote to lift Cuba's suspension from the OAS.
Cuba was one of the 21 initial members of the OAS upon foundation in Bogotá on 5 May 1948. The Organization, first led by Colombian Alberto Lleras Camargo, was created "to achieve an order of peace and justice, to promote their solidarity, to strengthen their collaboration, and to defend their sovereignty, their territorial integrity, and their independence".
Post-revolution relations
Following the Cuban Revolution of 1959, relations between Cuba and the United States began to deteriorate rapidly. Initially, however, the nations that comprised the Organization of American States were reluctant to be drawn on the issue of Cuba's representation at the organization. The United States favored collective action against Cuba with the stated aim, as forwarded by President John F. Kennedy, of isolating Cuba politically and economically. At a meeting of foreign ministers in August 1960, most nations refused to comment on the status of Cuba. Some, like Mexico and Argentina were adamant to remain impartial and stressed that the issue was a private quarrel between Cuba and the United States.[1]
In 1961, Venezuela and Colombia broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba and a new meeting was called between the OAS nations. By a vote of 14 to 2, with five nations abstaining, the OAS timetabled a council meeting for January 1962. In the buildup to that meeting Argentinian President Arturo Frondizi outlined his reservations to Washington's plans, stating that the U.S. was "obsessed with Cuba at the expense of the needs of the hemisphere" and that retaliation against the island would only strengthen Fidel Castro. States were also concerned about how any anti-Cuban measure would be perceived by the largely pro-Castro populations of Latin America. Pressure from the United States continued via U.S. ambassador to the OAS DeLesseps Morrison.[1]
Punta del Este gathering
On 21 January 1962, the OAS held the Eighth Meeting of Consultation of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Punta del Este, Uruguay. The United States had encouraged Central American representatives to advocate a hard line against Cuba, and to walk out if sanctions were not tabled. Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Bolivia and Ecuador were opposed to sanctions, Uruguay and Haiti were uncertain. United States Secretary of State Dean Rusk was hopeful that 14 votes, two thirds of the council would suffice to ensure U.S. policy in the region. After initial talks, the foreign minister of Haiti had a series of private discussions with the U.S. party. As a result, the U.S. agreed to resume aid to the nation in return for their support of sanctions against Cuba. Aid to Haiti had been suspended following the rise of the authoritarian autocrat François Duvalier.[1]
Argentina proposed a compromise that would see Cuba expelled from the organization. The proposal would also be supplemented by partial economic sanctions and the establishment of a special security committee. This was accepted by the U.S. who agreed to defend the new scheme. In his key speech to the organization, Dean Rusk stated that Cuba's alignment with the Sino-Soviet block was incompatible with the inter-American system, and such measures were imperative.
Though only 14 nations voted explicitly to exclude Cuba from the organization, all twenty republics supported the declaration forwarded by the U.S. Seventeen states voted to suspend arms sales to Cuba, 16 voted to follow this with a trade embargo, and 19 voted to create a Committee of Experts to combat "Cuba's subversive activities".
Conclusions of the decision
The vote was passed by 14 in favor, with one against (Cuba) and six abstentions (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, and Mexico). The operative part of the resolution read as follows:
That adherence by any member of the Organization of American States to Marxism–Leninism is incompatible with the inter-American system and the alignment of such a government with the communist bloc breaks the unity and solidarity of the hemisphere.
That the present Government of Cuba, which has officially identified itself as a Marxist–Leninist government, is incompatible with the principles and objectives of the inter-American system.
That this incompatibility excludes the present Government of Cuba from participation in the inter-American system.[2]
This means that the Cuban nation was still technically a member state, but that the current government was denied the right of representation and attendance at meetings and of participation in activities. The OAS's position was that although Cuba's participation is suspended, its obligations under the Charter, the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, etc. still hold: for instance, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights continued to publish reports on Cuba's human rights situation and to hear individual cases involving Cuban nationals. However, this stance was occasionally questioned by other individual member states.
Cuba's position was stated in an official note sent to the Organization "merely as a courtesy" by Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Raúl Roa on 4 November 1964: "Cuba was arbitrarily excluded... The Organization of American States has no juridical, factual, or moral jurisdiction, nor competence, over a state which it has illegally deprived of its rights."[3]
Moreover, although Cuba was suspended and thus disengaged from the Organization of American States in 1962, it maintained active participation in the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the OAS’s specialized health agency and the regional office[4] for the World Health Organization (WHO).[5][6] In fact, Cuba has a long history with PAHO, dating back to its involvement with PAHO's predecessor, with Cuban physician Dr. Juan Guiteras serving on the first executive board.[7]
PAHO has served as a unique space for geopolitics as a forum in which Cuba and the United States have continued to interact, even during times of political contention, with both countries using and engaging with PAHO to achieve their objectives. The United States, for example, worked with PAHO on its Alliance for Progress initiative through the OAS, which focused on building economic cooperation between North and South America. PAHO notably achieved and facilitated significant investments in public health such as the creation of a fund for public water investments.[8] Cuba and PAHO have engaged extensively on Cuba's public health system and global health initiatives, namely through support of its state-run healthcare system[6] as well as its medical internationalism efforts. One significant example was its engagement with the Mais Médicos program, where PAHO served as a key intermediary.[9]
Rapprochement attempts
The reincorporation of Cuba as an active member regularly arose as a topic within the inter-American system (e.g., it was intimated by the outgoing ambassador of Mexico in 1998)[10] but most observers did not see it as a serious possibility while the present government remained in power. Since 1960, the Cuban administration had repeatedly characterized the OAS as the "Ministry of Colonies" of the United States of America.[11][12] On 6 May 2005, PresidentFidel Castro reiterated that the island nation would not "be part of a disgraceful institution that has only humiliated the honor of Latin American nations".[13]
On 3 June 2009, foreign ministers assembled in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, for the OAS's 39th General Assembly, passed a vote to lift Cuba's suspension from the OAS. In its resolution (AG/RES 2438), the General Assembly decided that:
Resolution VI,... which excluded the Government of Cuba from its participation in the Inter-American system, hereby ceases to have effect
The participation of the Republic of Cuba in the OAS will be the result of a process of dialogue initiated at the request of the Government of Cuba, and in accordance with the practices, purposes, and principles of the OAS.
The United States had been urging for weeks that the OAS base Cuba's readmission to the hemispheric group on prerequisites of democratic principles and a commitment to human rights; after the vote was announced, it was pleased with the results. Ecuador's Foreign Minister Fander Falconí said, "This is a new proposal, it has no conditions – of any kind", Falconí said. "That suspension was made in the Cold War, in the language of the Cold War. What we have done here is to fix a historic error."[14]
In an editorial published by Granma, Fidel Castro applauded the Assembly's "rebellious" move and said that the date would "be recalled by future generations".[15] However, a Declaration of the Revolutionary Government dated 8 June 2009 stated that while Cuba welcomed the Assembly's gesture, in light of the Organization's historical record "Cuba will not return to the OAS".[16] As recently as January 2014 Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez has said that "Cuba’s position in relation to the OAS remains unchanged, we will not return to it".[17]
Although the member states of the OAS have taken steps as detailed above, which advocated for Cuba's reintegration into the OAS, the organization has not taken similar steps, with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issuing reports criticizing Cuba's human rights record, highlighting restrictions on political freedoms, judicial independence, free expression, and more.[18][19] Moreover, OAS leadership such as Secretary-GeneralLuis Almagro has also been vocal in his criticism of Cuba and its human rights record.[20][21]
Cuba's foreign policy has been fluid throughout history depending on world events and other variables, including relations with the United States. Without massive Soviet subsidies and its primary trading partner, Cuba became increasingly isolated in the late 1980s and early 1990s after the fall of the USSR and the end of the Cold War, but Cuba opened up more with the rest of the world again starting in the late 1990s when they have since entered bilateral co-operation with several South American countries, most notably Venezuela and Bolivia beginning in the late 1990s, especially after the Venezuela election of Hugo Chávez in 1999, who became a staunch ally of Castro's Cuba. The United States used to stick to a policy of isolating Cuba until December 2014, when Barack Obama announced a new policy of diplomatic and economic engagement. The European Union accuses Cuba of "continuing flagrant violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms". Cuba has developed a growing relationship with the People's Republic of China and Russia. Cuba provided civilian assistance workers – principally medical – to more than 20 countries. More than one million exiles have escaped to foreign countries. Cuba's present foreign minister is Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla.
The Organization of American States is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas.
Cuba has had a socialist political system since 1961 based on the "one state – one party" principle. Cuba is constitutionally defined as a single party Marxist–Leninist socialist republic with semi-presidential powers. The present Constitution of Cuba, which was passed in a 2019 referendum, also describes the role of the Communist Party of Cuba to be the "leading force of society and of the state" and as having the capability of setting national policy, and First Secretary of the Communist Party is the most powerful position in Cuba. The 2019 Constitution of Cuba identifies the ideals represented by Cuban independence hero José Martí and revolutionary leader Fidel Castro as the primary foundation of Cuba's political system, while also stressing the importance of the influence of the ideas of Marx, Engels, and Lenin.
Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz is a Cuban retired politician and general who served as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, the most senior position in the one-party communist state, from 2011 to 2021, and President of Cuba between 2008 and 2018, succeeding his brother Fidel Castro.
The Summit of the Americas (SOA) are institutionalized gatherings of heads of state and government of the member states of the Western Hemisphere where leaders discuss common policy issues, affirm shared values and commit to concerted actions at the national and regional level to address continuing and new challenges faced by countries in the Americas.
Human rights in Cuba are under the scrutiny of human rights organizations, which accuse the Cuban government of committing systematic human rights abuses against the Cuban people, including arbitrary imprisonment and unfair trials. International human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have drawn attention to the actions of the human rights movement and designated members of it as prisoners of conscience, such as Óscar Elías Biscet. In addition, the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba led by former statesmen Václav Havel of the Czech Republic, José María Aznar of Spain and Patricio Aylwin of Chile was created to support the Cuban dissident movement.
The United States embargo against Cuba has prevented U.S. businesses from conducting trade or commerce with Cuban interests since 1958. Modern diplomatic relations are cold, stemming from historic conflict and divergent political ideologies. U.S. economic sanctions against Cuba are comprehensive and impact all sectors of the Cuban economy. It is the most enduring trade embargo in modern history.
The Inter-American Defense College (IADC) is the educational entity of the Inter-American Defense Board, an independent entity of the Organization of American States. The College states that faculty, staff and student body are international, and that broad international participation provides an exceptional opportunity for the free exchange of ideas and forms a foundation for better inter-American understanding. The IADC holds a permanent license from the District of Columbia Higher Education Licensing Commission (DC-HELC) and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
Elections in Cuba are held at the municipal, provincial, and national levels. Cuba is a one-party state, with the Communist Party of Cuba being described as the "superior driving force of the society and the state" in the Constitution of Cuba. Because the communist party is the only official political party, elections in Cuba are not considered democratic because the government does not allow free and fair voting.
Felipe Ramón Pérez Roque was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba from 1999 to 2009. At his appointment, he was not only the youngest member of the Cuban cabinet but also the only one to be born after the Cuban Revolution in 1959.
Armando Valladares Perez is a Cuban-American poet, diplomat and former political prisoner for his involvement in the Cuban dissident movement.
Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada was a Cuban politician. He served as his country's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) for nearly 30 years and later served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1992 to 1993. Subsequently, Alarcón was President of the National Assembly of People's Power from 1993 to 2013, and because of this post, was considered the third-most powerful figure in Cuba. He was also until 2013 a Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba.
The 2006–2008 Cuban transfer of presidential duties was the transfer of the title of president and presidential duties from longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro to his brother, First Vice President Raúl Castro, the next-in-line-of-succession person in Cuba, following Fidel's operation and recovery from an undisclosed digestive illness believed to be diverticulitis. Although Raúl Castro exercised the duties of president, Fidel Castro retained the title of president of the Council of State of Cuba and president of the Council of Ministers of Cuba, during this period.
Relations between Cuba and Venezuela were established in 1902. The relationship deteriorated in the 1960s and Venezuela broke relations in late 1961 following the Betancourt Doctrine policy of not having ties with governments that had come to power by non-electoral means. A destabilizing factor was the Cuban support for the antigovernment guerrilla force that operates in remote rural areas. Relations were reestablished in 1974.
Chile–Cuba relations refers to interstate relations between the Republic of Chile and the Republic of Cuba. Cuba has been, since the 1960s, a reference point to left wing politicians in Chile.
33 out of 35 sovereign states of the Americas are member states of the Organization of American States (OAS); Cuba and Nicaragua are the only exceptions, although they were both former member states.
Luis Leonardo Almagro Lemes is a Uruguayan lawyer, diplomat, and politician who currently serves as the 10th Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) since 2015. A former member of the Broad Front, Almagro served as Minister of Foreign Relations of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015 under president José Mujica.
Cuba–Uruguay relations refers to the diplomatic relations between the Republic of Cuba and the Oriental Republic of Uruguay. Both nations are members of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, Group of 77, Organization of Ibero-American States and the United Nations.
The nations of Cuba and Mexico have had uninterrupted diplomatic relations since their establishment in 1902. Both nations are members of the Association of Caribbean States, Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, Latin American Integration Association, Organization of Ibero-American States, and the United Nations.
Current and historical relations between Argentina and Cuba, have existed for over a century. Both nations are members of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, Latin American Integration Association, Organization of American States and the Organization of Ibero-American States.
1 2 Delgado García, Gregorio; Pichardo Díaz, Marío (2002). La Representación OPS/OMS en Cuba Conmemorando 100 anos de salud (in Spanish). PALCOGRAF. pp.51–52.
↑ Human Rights Watch, ed. (2021). World report 2021: events of 2020. World report / Human Rights Watch. New York, NY: Human Rights Watch. p.193. ISBN978-1-64421-028-4.
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