Cuba's potential reintegration to the Organization of American States (OAS) should be discussed without fear, OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza said Tuesday.
In his opening speech to the 39th OAS general assembly in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula, Insulza called on members to tackle the topic with a willingness to reach consensus and avoid division.
OAS members need to have "the will to reach a consensus" without falling "again on divisions" over the Cuba issue, he said.
Cuba remains a member of the 35-nation body, but its government has been excluded since 1962, three years after the island nation's revolution. All OAS members except the United States now recognize the post-revolutionary government, and most seek the nation's return.
Insulza said the 34 foreign ministers meeting in the Honduran industrial city of San Petro Sula are willing to make progress on the topic and "leave behind a past which is not positive according to many."
He added that the Americas have a common agenda in a way that has never been seen before, following the achievements of the Summit of the Americas at the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago.
The lifting of the OAS' exclusion resolution against Cuba has dominated the attention, and "non violence," the theme of the assembly, has been set aside.
Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said they agreed on flitting the resolution, but "there is not agreement on the redaction of the derogation."
(Xinhua News Agency June 3, 2009)
