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U.S. Imposes ‘Imperial Veto’ at Americas Summit (Diario Co Latino, El Salvador)

“That an American country could be excluded from the discussions and debates about the summit’s great themes is simply a disgrace for the democracies. But even more shameful is that a country, as the strongest, could adopt the pose of an emperor that decides who should or should not be present at an event of sovereign peoples.”

EDITORIAL

Translated By Miguel Gutierrez

April 17, 2012

El Salvador - Diario Co Latino - Original Article (Spanish)

At the Sixth Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia, Washington committed itself to preventing Cuba, another American country, from attending.

It was the leader that hosted the summit, Colombia President Santos, who traveled to Cuba a week before the meeting to persuade President Raul Castro not to participate in the hemispheric conclave.

That an American country could be excluded from the discussions and debates about the summit’s great themes is simply a disgrace for the democracies. But even more shameful is that a country, as the strongest, could adopt the pose of an emperor that decides who should or should not be present at an event of sovereign peoples.

Before the summit, Colombia President Santos said in an interview that Latin America is no longer the United States’ backyard. Yet with Santos traveling to Cuba to prevent its participation at the summit on Colombian territory, one might think that Colombia is still part of the U.S. imperial empire’s backyard.

And of course, the large number of U.S. military bases in Colombia reflects the still-fragile sovereignty of some nations in Latin America.

It is one thing for a country to voluntarily decide not to participate - on any grounds, and quite another when a county doesn’t attend because a foreign country imposes a veto.

At the opening of the summit, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) mentioned, "the region’s democratic progress."

SEE ALSO ON THIS:
Opera Mundi, Brazil: Americas Summit Cements ‘North American Isolation’
Ahora, Cuba: May Obama Be Able to Sleep with His Eyes Closed
El Pais, Spain: Blaming Washington: Why the Americas Summit was a Bust
Diario Co Latino, El Salvador: U.S. Imposes ‘Imperial Veto’ at Americas Summit
El Espectador, Colombia: People’s Summit Condemns Imposition of ‘U.S. Agenda’
El Espectador, Colombia: Evo Morales Blasts U.S. Over Summit Obstruction
El Espectador, Colombia: Summit of Americas in ‘Limbo’
Hoy, Ecuador: Americas Summit the Right Place to Address Drug War
Al-Jazeera, Qatar: Argentina 'Storms Out' of the Americas Summit
Globe & Mail, Canada: Canada Splits with Latin America on Cuba and Drug War
El Espectador, Colombia: Summit of Americas Could Mark Start of ‘Soft’ Drug War
Minuto Uno, Argentina: Summit Leaders Seek U.S. Backing on 'British Aggression'
El Comercio, Ecuador: To Send Message on Cuba, Correa Should Go to Summit
El Universal, Colombia: With No Hope of Doing So, Colombians Ponder Meeting Obama
La Jornada, Mexico: The Lesson on Prohibition that the U.S. Refuses to Learn
El Universal, Mexico: Before ‘Aiding’ Mexico, U.S. Must Deal with Own Corruption
La Jornada, Mexico: With Tale of Drug Lord, U.S. Builds Case for Mexico Intervention
El Universal, Mexico: President Calderon Implores U.S.: 'No More Weapons!'
La Jornada, Mexico: Mexico Drug Violence: 'Business is Business'
Semana, Colombia: By Opposing U.S. on Drugs, President Santos Shows 'Guts'
El Universal, Mexico: Mexicans Must Face the Truth: We are at War
La Jornada, Mexico: U.S. Finally Admits to Infiltration By Drug Cartels
La Jornada, Mexico: Rejecting U.S. Drug War is Essential for Mexico's Survival
La Jornada, Mexico: An Open Letter to Obama: Learn Your History, Sir!
La Jornada, Mexico: Mexico: The Birthplace of U.S. Interventionism
La Jornada, Mexico: 'Happy Talk' Hides U.S. Encroachment on Mexico
La Jornada, Mexico: Senators and U.S. Drones: What Else are They Hiding?
La Jornada, Mexico: U.S. Consulate Deaths are No More Tragic than Our Own
La Jornada, Mexico: U.S. 'No Help' in Combating Drug Mafias
El Universal, Mexico: Hypocrite on Drugs, Obama Must 'Clean Own House'
El Heraldo, Honduras: Drug Busts in U.S. Belie the True Danger …
La Jornada, Mexico: Calderon's Bush-Style Militarization of Mexican Politics
Excelsior, Mexico: Mexico Needs 'Deeds, Not Words' From Obama White House
El Universal , Mexico: How Mexico Could Legalize Pot - Whether U.S. Likes it or Not
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Excelsior, Mexico: Relations Between U.S. and Mexico are Deteriorating
La Tercera, Chile Mexico's Drug War: No Way Out But to Fight On
Semana, Colombia: Michael Phelps and American Hypocricy on the Use of Drugs

And certainly, one cannot deny there has been some progress. But it must be understood that such progress is not yet firm, endangering this very same democracy and nations themselves, as shown by the coup in Honduras a couple of years ago, or the vetoes imposed by powerful countries against smaller ones like the great and proud Cuba.

Posted by Worldmeets.US

While Cuba’s exclusion wasn’t the central theme of the summit, in the end, it became its central focus.

Hopefully at the next summit, Cuba will not attend of its own accord rather than under pressure from a power.

Only when we are no longer endangered by the imperial power will we be able to say that our democracies have made substantial and definitive progress.