Cuba Doesn't Belong in a Democratic Club
Published: Monday, May 11, 2009 12:29 pm By: Wall Street Journal - Mary Anastasia O'Grady
The Organization of American States claims to be "the region's principal multilateral forum for strengthening democracy, promoting human rights, and confronting shared problems such as poverty, terrorism, illegal drugs and corruption." Why would an organization designed to "strengthen democracy" want Cuba as a member, asks Mary Anastasia O'Grady. N ow OAS Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza wants the group to be able to add a new goal to the list: legitimizing the Cuban military dictatorship by making it a member. How he intends to do it and why I'll get to in a moment. But first let's review how Cuba got the OAS boot in the first place. Contrary to Mr. Insulza's assertions, Cuba has not changed since its 1962 expulsion, and renewing its membership now will undermine OAS credibility. It will also be a gut punch to the island's dissidents who, according to the Center of Human Rights Rapporteurs in Cuba, are being brutalized daily by Raúl Castro's thugs. Dissidents also can't be too happy with the news that the Obama team has been holding meetings with the regime to see if it can, according to one official quoted in the New York Times, have a "serious, civil, open relationship" with the owners of the Cuban slave plantation. Still, Tom Shannon, the State Department's assistant secretary for the Western Hemisphere, suggests that, at least within the OAS, the U.S. is planning to stand up for the long-suffering Cuban people. "Giving Cuba a pass on the OAS's democracy and human rights requirements would be bad for the OAS and bad for Cuba," he says. Since its founding in 1948, the OAS has professed a belief that the "historic mission of America is to offer to man a land of liberty and a favorable environment for the development of his personality and the realization of his just aspirations." The Americas in the News The Cuban regime is at odds with these ideals and in January 1962 the OAS expelled it, resolving: "That adherence by any member of the Organization of American states to Marxism-Leninism is incompatible
