In defeat for U.S., OAS will let Cuba rejoin without conditions

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Frances Robles | Miami Herald

MIAMI — Cuba's 47-year suspension from the Organization of American States will be lifted, thanks to an agreement reached Wednesday by foreign ministers assembled in Honduras, Ecuador's Foreign Minister Francisco Falcone told reporters.

The United States had been pressuring the OAS for weeks to condition Cuba's readmission to the hemispheric group on democratic principles and commitment to human rights, but Falcone said there will be no such conditions.

''This is a new proposal, it has no conditions — of any kind,'' Falcone said. "That suspension was made in the Cold War, in the language of the Cold War. What we have done here is fix a historic error.''

Cuba was suspended from the OAS in 1962. More and more Latin American nations had pushed for Cuba to be readmitted.

Hillary Clinton worked through the day Tuesday trying to convince Latin America nations to allow some conditions but failed.

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