The 6th Summit of the Americas concluded with the marked intention to add Cuba at the next event in Panama or, it seems, to not hold another meeting.
The theme of the fiftieth anniversary of U.S. embargo against the Cuban archipelago was also called out as a random proposition for after the November elections in the United States.
As the main meeting was held behind closed doors, it’s not known whether they talked about the Cuban authorities signing, as a premise, the Inter-American Democratic Charter. This document, adopted at a special session of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States, on September 11, 2001 in Lima, Peru, is the essential guarantee to rebuild and safeguard representative democracy in our continent. However, we should remember that the current rulers of the island have long experience in signing all kinds of public documents and then archiving them, for example, the Declaration of Viña del Mar.
With regards to the issue of the decolonization of the hemisphere, apparently, there was a consensus to change the recurring theme of Puerto Rico for the Malvina Islands (also known as the Falkland Islands).
At the end of the day, the importance of this Sixth Summit has been more in what has been quietly announced, than what has been loudly trumpeted.
April 17 2012
