Editing Organization of American States (section)

=== Cuba ===
{{Further|Cuba–OAS relations}}

The current government of Cuba was excluded from participation in the Organization under a decision adopted by the Eighth Meeting of Consultation in [[Punta del Este]], [[Uruguay]], on 31 January 1962. 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 reads as follows:

{{blockquote|{{Clear}}
#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 continents.
#That the present Government of Cuba, which has officially identified itself as a Marxist-Leninist government, was incompatible with the principles and objectives of the inter-American system.
#That this incompatibility excluded the present Government of Cuba from participation in the inter-American system.<ref>{{cite web |title=Six Report on the Situation of Political Prisoners in Cuba |work=[[Inter-American Commission on Human Rights]] |publisher=Organization of American States |date=14 December 1979 |url=http://www.cidh.oas.org/countryrep/Cuba79eng/intro.htm}}</ref>
}}

This meant 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 was 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]] continues 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.

The resolution to exclude Cuba was controversial when it was adopted, and the reintegration of Cuba into the Inter-American system has remained a frequent source of contention among the countries of the hemisphere ever since.<ref name=":0">{{citation-attribution|1={{Cite web|title=Organization of American States: Background and Issues for Congress|url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R42639.pdf}} }}</ref> Cuba's position was stated in an official note sent to the Organization "merely as a courtesy" by Minister of Foreign Affairs [[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."<ref>{{cite web |title=The Situation of Human Rights in Cuba: Seventh Report |work=[[Inter-American Commission on Human Rights]] |publisher=Organization of American States |date=4 October 1983 |url=http://www.cidh.oas.org/countryrep/Cuba83eng/intro.htm}}</ref> The reincorporation of Cuba as an active member regularly arose as a topic within the inter-American system{{spaced ndash}} for instance, it was intimated by the outgoing ambassador of Mexico in 1998<ref>{{cite press release |title=Mexico Calls for Cuba's Reinstatement into the OAS |publisher=Organization of American States |date=4 February 1998 |url=http://www.oas.org/OASpage/press2002/en/Press98/020498ce.htm}} Organization of American States.</ref>{{spaced ndash}}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.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,869814,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090624025833/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,869814,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 June 2009 |title=The Testing of the OAS |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=22 August 1960 |accessdate=24 November 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/castro/db/1972/19720426.html |title=Castro admits problems in education |work=Siempre |publisher=Latin American Network Information Center, University of Texas at Austin |first=Marta |last=Solis |date=26 April 1972 |pages=40–41}}</ref> [[Fidel Castro]] and his brother [[Raúl Castro|Raúl]] attacked the OAS as a "Yankee bordello" and "instrument of imperialist domination" and vowed that Cuba would never join, although OAS rescinded the nation's expulsion in 2009 and invited it to apply for readmission.<ref>{{cite news|author=Lino Gutierrez|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2009/06/09/why-cuba-wont-join-the-oas-3/|title=Why Cuba won't join the OAS|work=Foreign Policy|date=9 June 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Cuba will never rejoin 'imperialist' OAS, says Castro|url=https://www.dw.com/en/cuba-will-never-rejoin-imperialist-oas-says-castro/a-19307316|publisher=Deutsche Welle|date=5 June 2016}}</ref> [[President of Venezuela|Venezuelan President]] [[Hugo Chávez]] promised to veto any final declaration of the 2009 [[Summit of the Americas]] due to Cuba's exclusion.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8003507.stm |title=Chavez threatens veto over Cuba |work=[[BBC News Online]] |date=17 April 2009 |access-date=17 April 2009}}</ref>

On 17 April 2009, after a "trading of warm words" between the administrations of U.S. President [[Barack Obama]] and Cuban leader [[Raúl Castro]], OAS Secretary General [[José Miguel Insulza]] said he would ask the 2009 General Assembly to annul the 1962 resolution excluding Cuba.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna30261514 |title=U.S., Cuba trade warm words ahead of summit |work=NBC News |date=17 April 2009 |access-date=17 April 2009}}</ref>

On 3 June 2009, foreign ministers assembled in [[San Pedro Sula]], [[Honduras]], for the OAS's 39th [[General Assembly of the Organization of American States|General Assembly]], passed a vote to lift Cuba's suspension from the OAS. The United States had been pressuring the OAS for weeks to condition Cuba's readmission to the group on democratic principles and commitment to human rights. Ecuador's Foreign Minister [[Fander Falconí]] said there will be no such conditions. "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 fix a historic error."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.miamiherald.com/459/story/1079796.html |title=OAS votes to lift suspension of Cuba |work=[[The Miami Herald]] |date=3 June 2009 |access-date=3 June 2009}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> The suspension was lifted at the end of the General Assembly, but, to be readmitted to the Organization, Cuba will need to comply with all the treaties signed by the Member States, including the [[Inter-American Democratic Charter]] of 2001.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oas.org/consejo/GENERAL%20ASSEMBLY/Documents/AG04688E08.doc|title=Proceedings Volume 1|access-date=28 December 2019}}</ref>  A statement issued by the Cuban government on 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."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2009/junio/lun8/Declaration.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219170708/http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2009/junio/lun8/Declaration.html|archive-date=19 February 2012|title=Declaration of the Revolutionary Government |work=[[Granma (newspaper)|Granma]] |date=8 June 2009 |access-date=15 June 2009}}</ref>