Cuba, US: Neighbors Speaking

The secretary general of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), Ernesto Samper, proposed Monday the elimination of all U.S. military bases in Latin American territory, considering them as elements belonging “to the era of the Cold War.”

With respect to the Summit of the Americas that will be celebrated this April 10 and 11 in Panama, Samper expressed: “A good point of the new agenda of relations between the U.S. and Latin America would be that there are no North American military bases in South America.”

Samper rejected the unilateral measures of the U.S. against Venezuela, and considered that the event that will be celebrated in Panama is opportune to reconsider the relations of the North American government with the region.

About the summit, it stood out that one of the greatest expectations is the meeting of the president of Cuba, Raúl Castro and his U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama.

However, what stood out is that the important thing is to address the state of the diplomatic meetings and the requirement of lifting the embargo against the island. Further, it stood out that they should address “other topics, not only those that interest the United States,” among those, the environment, gender equality and human rights.

From the Cuban center of power, “Cuba expects that the dialogue with the USA develops in a constructive scenario, based on reciprocity, without conditions or discrimination and in full respect to the equal sovereign equality, the independence, and the non-interference in the internal affairs of the countries,” said the deputy director of Multilateral Affairs and International Law of the Cuban Foreign Ministry, Pedro Luis Pedroso.

The latter remembered that Cuba already proposed that meeting with the United States in July 2014 and reiterated that proposal during the first official conversations about the re-establishment of diplomatic relations that took place late last January in Havana.

“These conversations about themes of Human Rights constitute an indication of the willingness of Cuba to engage with the United States about any topic, despite our differences, based on equality and reciprocity,” noted Pedroso.

Cuba will present “its achievements in the promotion and protection of all human rights,” not only on the island, but also in other countries where Cuban cooperation is present, with special emphasis on areas such as access to health services, education, or cultural services [that] are free, universal and of quality.

Also, they will deal with human rights in “places where the U.S. has a direct impact.” “At the same time, we will address the concerns that we have about the situation of human rights in the United States and other places in which that country has a direct impact,” added the deputy director of the Cuban Foreign Ministry.

Also, he noted that Cuba is aware of the “profound differences” that exist with Washington about political systems, democracy, human rights, and international law, but he pointed out that the island has the “unwavering will” that both countries “can civilly interact within the recognition and respect for these differences.”

Acknowledging that Cuba has “important goals to still achieve, like all countries,” in the sphere of human rights, he recalled that the island holds that “there are different political and democratic models.”

“Cuba does not admit, and this is not new, that there is a single model of democracy, so we can take a different perception on those issues,” said Pedroso, showing that the beard of Fidel knows of the difficulties that they have ahead in order to come to a good port and to the hand of the United States.