Next Americas summit without Cuba "unacceptable" - Colombia

COLOMBIA : President Juan Manuel Santos, the host of the weekend summit of Latin American and Caribbean leaders here, said Saturday that keeping Cuba out of the next summit would be “unacceptable.” “The isolation, the indifference has shown its ineffectiveness. In today's world there is no justification for this anachronism,” he said. “ So just as a new summit with a frustrated Haiti would be unacceptable, so it would be with Cuba absent,” he told his peers at the Summit of the Americas, including US President Barack Obama.

Leaders from across the Americas launched talks on expanding trade as the United States came under strong pressure to let Cuba attend future summits.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, host of the Summit of the Americas, said it would be “unacceptable” to keep Cuba out of the next gathering.

“The isolation, the indifference has shown its ineffectiveness. In today's world, there is no justification for this anachronism,” he stressed.

Cuba has never taken part in a Summit of the Americas, a regular meeting sponsored by the US-based Organization of American States (OAS).

Washington argues that communist-ruled Cuba is ineligible to attend because it lacks democratic credentials and does not “respect the human rights of the Cuban people.” Cuba was expelled from the OAS in 1962 at the height of the Cold War. The expulsion was rescinded in 2009, but Cuba has refused to return to the organization.

Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa is boycotting the summit because of the exclusion of Cuba. An alliance of left-leaning Latin American countries known as ALBA announced here that its members would not take part in any future summits of the Americas if Cuba was not included.

AFP