by Julio Urdaneta
Former Cuba President Fidel Castro considers “strange” the case against two U.S. residents arrested by the FBI on charges of spying for Cuba just 24 hours after the Organization for American States voted to open the way for the Caribbean country to regain membership in that group.
The comments from Castro came in a statement read on Cuban television. The Cuban leader called the OAS decision to open the doors for his country “a defeat of U.S. diplomacy.”
Walter Kendall Myers and his wife’ Gwendolyn were arrested June 4 in Washington’ D.C., on charges of spying for Cuba for decades’ the Department of State said.
The day prior, in an unprecedented decision, the OAS lifted the suspension that had prevented Cuba from becoming a full member of the organization.
The General Assembly, reunited in San Pedro Sula’ Honduras, agreed by consensus to lift the ban that reigned over the island nation since 1962, in response that year to the announcement by Fidel Castro that his revolution was Marxist-Leninist.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton applauded during the final OAS vote, which was by acclamation.
‘’I am pleased that everyone came to agree that Cuba cannot simply take its seat and that we must put Cuba’s participation to a determination down the road – if it ever chooses to seek reentry,” Clinton said in a statement.
“If and when the day comes to make that determination, the United States will continue to defend the principles of the Inter-American Democratic Charter and other fundamental tenets of the organization,” she added.
The decision received strong criticism by foes of the Castro regime. “The fact that the OAS backed away from Cuba’s suspension is deplorable,” Sen. Mel Martínez (R-Fla.) said. “Nothing has changed in Cuba in the areas of human rights and democracy and in fact, conditions have only worsened.”
U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) said in a statement “The recent decision by U.S. officials to encourage Cuba s reintegration into the OAS clearly contradicts current U.S. law. Long-standing U.S. policy, as enshrined in the LIBERTAD Act (Helms= Burton law), has been to oppose any efforts by the Cuban regime s sympathizers and enablers to terminate the dictatorship s suspension from OAS membership,” she said.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) noted that the resolution does not automatically allow Cuba to regain its seat in the OAS, but rather establishes a process for Cuba to take the steps’ if it so chooses, necessary to return in a manner consistent with the OAS’s democratic principles and respect for human rights.
“I sincerely hope that the Cuban government avails itself of this opportunity to take the steps necessary to return to the Inter-American family,” he added. Hispanic Link.
