Dominica: The President of Columbia is left in a political tug of war between the United States and the ALBA bloc because Dominica and its ALBA allies have threatened to boycott this April’s OAS Summit of the Americas, scheduled to be hosted in Columbia, if Cuba is not invited to the conference, according to a Dominica News Online report.
The US is insisting that Cuba should not be included because is it not a democracy. Only Organization of American States (OAS) members are invited and Cuba was suspended from the organization in 1962 because of its socialist political system. However in 2009 the suspension was revoked on the basis that Cuba comply with democratic principles before being readmitted. It is reported that Cuba said it is willing to attend the summit but will not rejoin the OAS.
The DNO report said that on Monday a high ranking OAS official said that Columbia, along with other invited countries, is expected to decide whether Cuba will attend the Sixth Summit of the Americas.
US President Barack Obama is among leaders from 34 countries expected to attend the summit that will be discussing regional issues. The press in Columbia is reporting that the boycott has threatened to spoil the event for the Columbian President who has been trying to improve the country’s image after years of civil war and violence.
ALBA’s political council is made up of Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Dominica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
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