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Cuba rejects OAS readmission
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The Cuban government has formally rejected a decision of the Organisation of American States allowing it to rejoin the group.
Last week the OAS voted overwhelmingly to end the communist island's suspension from the organisation. The Cubans are claiming the vote as a victory over the US, but after years of demonising the organisation they are unwilling to rejoin. Formal confirmation that Cuba will not return to the Organisation of American States came in a Declaration of the Revolutionary Government published in communist party newspaper Granma. Cuba thanked Latin American and Caribbean countries for defending its right to rejoin. But, it said the organisation had long supported Washington's hostility towards Cuba and that the country preferred to retain its independence. OAS: The door is still open OAS Assistant Secretary General, Albert Ramdin, told BBC Caribbean that " the door still remains open for when Cuba is ready to engage."
He said the Cuba rejection of the OAS readmission offer was not a slap in the face, in response to a question put by BBC Caribbean. "I think its important for Cuba to realise that the OAS is different today from what is was in 1962," Ambassador Ramdin said. Cuba was suspended from the OAS in 1962, at the height of the Cold War. US relations The US had initially wanted any change dependent on movement on human rights and democracy. In the end it supported what was a compromise vote lifting the ban but calling for talks over readmission. There have been some improvements in US Cuban relations with new presidents in both countries. President Barak Obama has lifted restrictions on Cuban Americans visiting and sending money home. His Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, recently agreed to a US request to resume direct talks on migration issues and offered to extend these to include anti narcotics and hurricane disaster preparedness. But, according to a BBC correspondent, it is proving a slow process and on the major issue of lifting the decades old trade embargo Washington is still insisting that Cuba must first show signs of reform. |
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