OAS votes to readmit Cuba after 47 years

Battle ahead
The U.S. won Cuba's suspension from the hemispheric body in January 1962. It was just nine months after Fidel Castro first publicly described Cuba's system as socialist and after a disastrous U.S.-backed exile invasion of the country flopped at the Bay of Pigs.

The OAS found that Cuba's "adherence ... to Marxism-Leninism is incompatible with the inter-American system."

But in recent years, with the Cold War fading and left-of-center governments spreading in the Americas, Cuba's isolation melted away. Every country in the hemisphere except for the United States has re-established relations with Cuba and the U.S. embargo of Cuba is deeply unpopular throughout the region.

Membership in the OAS gives a country a voice in hemispheric agreements on major issues. The OAS has often tried to mediate solutions to political conflicts and it has offshoots that coordinate health policies and protect human rights.

Although the U.S. ultimately claimed the vote as a victory for American diplomacy, the rancor at the meeting before Clinton left showed that "the era of the U.S. calling the shots has ended," said Daniel P. Erikson, a Cuba specialist at the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington think tank.

Erikson also noted that "there is some wiggle room" in the conditions.

"I think there will be a battle in the coming days to see how to define the practices and principles of the OAS and whether Cuba is meeting them," he said.

Cuba's government has repeatedly said it has no interest in returning to the 34-member organization.

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro wrote in state newspapers on Wednesday that the OAS should not exist and historically has "opened the doors to the Trojan horse" — the U.S. — to wreak havoc in Latin America.

Cuba ally and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called the vote "a great victory" but also raised concerns that Washington continues to dominate the OAS and suggested that "a new organization of Latin American and Caribbean countries must be created."

The Obama administration has hoped its recent overtures to the Cuban government would overcome widespread resentment in the Americas over Washington's long history of isolating Havana.

U.S. officials have lifted restrictions on money transfers and travel to the island by Americans with family there and are resuming long-stalled immigration and postal service talks.

Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana credited Obama for making Wednesday's decision possible.

"This resolution should be understood as a renewed spirit of dialogue," Taiana said.

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