[NYTr] "You can take the OAS and...."
ny...@olm.blythe-systems.com
Progreso Weekly - May 17, 2007
http://www.progresoweekly.com/index.php?progreso=Ramy&otherweek=1179378000
Dateline Havana
'You can take the OAS and ...'
Insulza favors rapprochement with Cuba
By Manuel Alberto Ramy
The late Foreign Minister RaC:l Roa, known in Cuba as the Chancellor of
Dignity because of his firm stance in defense of national sovereignty, was
a man at ease with words, who verbalized images in machine-gun-like bursts
and wielded a tongue as sharp as a native stiletto. His speeches, sayings
and personal history have become legendary. When in January 1962 the
Organization of American States (OAS) decided to expel Cuba, Roa, on his
way out of the hall, reportedly turned around and told the assembly: "You
can shove it up ..."
As far as Cuba is concerned, for the past 45 years the OAS has been
exactly where the Chancellor of Dignity consigned it. But now, from Rome
-- the city all roads lead to -- JosC) Miguel Insulza, Secretary General of
the OAS, has vowed to sponsor "the opening of a dialogue between Cuba and
the OAS, something that does not exist and that's absurd, because of all
the countries in the organization, 33 have normal relations with Cuba and
only one doesn't." Needless to say, the one that doesn't is the United
States.
Political realism, together with the good work of Cuban diplomacy -- not
ideologized, practical and attuned to solidarity -- permits the 33 other
countries to maintain normal and beneficial relations with Cuba. These
countries have dismissed the argument of the incompatibility of a
Marxist-Leninist government in the context of the Americas that was raised
in 1962. The 20th Century is over and so is the Cold War, which only the
U.S. government wages against the Cubans.
Insulza, a skilled politician, follows the line of important countries,
such as Spain and others, that want to keep a foot in Cuba. That effort
begins with the search for a dialogue with Cuban authorities. For
guidance, he looks at Cuba's astrological chart, beginning with the
questions raised by the convalescence of the historical leader of the
Cuban process, who is such a strategist that no one knows how much of his
absence is due to illness and how much to political calculation.
The key question is: Are the Cubans interested in returning to the OAS?
Looking quickly at events in Latin America, Cuba's natural habitat, and
bearing in mind that Havana maintains links with all governments in the
region, one wonders: What would Havana gain?
Cuba, along with Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua, have formed the
Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), a model of integration
based on complementation and solidarity. It is not only a mechanism that
aspires to a gradual economic integration but also an instrument to
coordinate its foreign policies.
Beginning with Venezuela and Bolivia -- and maybe Ecuador in the near
future -- this bloc expands and, like a South American river, branches out
to best advantage, as in the case of the South American Common Market
(Mercosur).
The ALBA is an instrument that's totally apart from the policies of U.S.
administrations. It prioritizes other factors, such as the social element
and the practical mechanics of representative democracy. It has other
interests and perspectives that go beyond the rules of the OAS.
I think the OAS and its Secretary General are more interested in the
reintegration of Cuba than the Cubans themselves.
Some years ago, a Cuban leader (I don't remember if it was Fidel Castro)
said that if the OAS became a different OAS, Cuba's reintegration might be
worthwhile. Meanwhile, I think Roa's phrase remains applicable.
[Manuel Alberto Ramy is Havana bureau chief for Radio Progreso Alternativa
and editor of Progreso Semanal, the Spanish-language version of Progreso
Weekly.]
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