As far as Cuba and the Latin American countries are concerned, I believe the USA is making the first steps to change its attitude and behavior towards the countries south of their border.

If you saw the video announced by the foreign minister of Honduras regarding the decision of June 3, 2009, you would have noticed that change.

The decision to bring back Cuba into the OAS was a consensus, i.e., a unanimous decision. The USA voted for it, too, although it was probably under pressure from the other OAS members to do so.

@ By psychonaut, June 5 at 1:46 am #
> I feel misunderstood here by some of the comments. I am not denying the unethical behavior of the USA with regards to Latin America and—for that matter—the rest of the world. I am simply suggesting that one should enter into a dialogue with this nation—despite its misdeeds.

Sorry you feel misunderstood. Only my Viva Cuba post referred to your post. My others were not - they were rather an attempt to understand the strange idea of Robert Scheer as a US ‘left-winger,’ but bearing zero relationship to the ‘left wing’ in the rest of the world.

@ PSmith, June 4 at 3:58 pm #
Apologies for all caps. The long version - I take a very dark view of the murderous past, based on non-stop US murder and torture since the Brazilian coup of 1964.

Torture and Murder. Murder and Genocide. In the same way that the Germans were desperate for Jews to visit Germany and to tell them that they were forgiven, for decades after World War 2, at least one such Jew made the deadly point that he could not forgive the Germans for those that they had killed in the camps. He could not speak for the dead. In other words, the Germans would have to continue to bear that guilt always, themselves, alone.

Neither can any living person forgive the US people for the millions slaughtered in their wars, tortures, coups, genocides and other atrocities. Or in their recent abominations—From Guantanamo to Bagram to the USS Auschwitzes off Diego Garcia, to their wars and police actions around the world—Nor their death squads.

Talking to ones enemies is good advice and wise. But the US has made no attempt to signal a change of direction, either with Cuba, with South or Latin America, or with Iraq. In that case, all such countries must be on their guard for renewed US aggression. The victim cannot make the aggressor stop. It is up to the aggressor to desist first.

The cold war is still not over. There is much to do done in the American continent in order for the cold war to end.

Dear Xntrk,

After reflecting upon the matter, I have the feeling that after the decision of June 3, 2009 revoking the decision of January 31, 1962 to suspend Cuba’s membership in the OAS, Cuba has automatically become a member of the OAS. After all, suspension is not exclusion. At no time in history has Cuba cancelled its membership in the OAS. If it does not want to remain a member of the OAS, then it should cancel its membership.

It is true that the Latin American nations—including Cuba, of course—consider the USA to be their enemy. There is also good reason for this. I am not disputing this matter. That is, in my opinion, all the more reason to maintain the OAS. Dialogue with opponents does not do any harm. It may even do some good.

The OAS never excluded Cuba from OAS membership; Cuba never cancelled its membership in the OAS. Hence, ....

Sincerely,

Luis

Dear Commentators,

The opinion in the Jamaica Gleaner at URL:

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090605/cleisure/cleisure1.html

expresses my opinion to this matter. I was glad to find a newspaper article in internet that reflects my view.

Sincerely,

Luis

I feel misunderstood here by some of the comments. I am not denying the unethical behavior of the USA with regards to Latin America and—for that matter—the rest of the world. I am simply suggesting that one should enter into a dialogue with this nation—despite its misdeeds.

Great post, PSmith, I intend to come back and go through it more thoroughly.  What it is essential to do is subvert the principled gulibility of US truthers like Psychonut. All governments lie, but with the 9/11-anthrax homicide, the US powerstate has gone off the deep end into basic dishonesty and irrationality in the mainstream truth consensus. It’s amnazing that the Obama administration can argue with a straight face that Cuba must adhere to Latin American Democracy, which the US has successfully destroyed so often. 

The American people do not understand the deep cynicism of the US powerstate and how deeply and intensely it has deceived and deluded the American people.  That is why Obama was cleverly selected by the ruling class, because he can talk and smile real good, to refurbish Bushite policies.  The general plan,however, is pretty much standard, to follow Bushite policies and proclaim the contrary of Hope n Change.

I don’t think American gullibility can last very long in economic crisis, but I may be an optimistic fool.

THE LAST ENEMY OF A PERMANENT WARTIME GOVERNMENT - THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Operation Mockingbird - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird

See Laura Donohue / Stanford Law School, who was informed at Harvard Law School that any dissent with the Neocon government position on law would be taken as her resignation. Hence her tenure at Stanford. Laura Donohue - Stanford Law -TIA, TALON programs. One Stasi-style informer per fifteen or twenty citizens - implemented. - http://fora.tv/2008/09/11/Laura_Donohue_The_Consequences_of_Counterterrorism#chapter_01

TIA - Total Information Awareness - implement, under new name obviously - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Information_Awareness

TALON program - Threat and Local Observation Notice - domestic surveillance program - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TALON_(database)

Your Local Stasi - Domestic Informers - http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/07/14/1026185141232.html

The Cold War is over? Not on your nelly. John Stockwell - The _Third_World_ is the new enemy - http://www.serendipity.li/cia/stock2.html

GORE VIDAL

“When we’re out of the Empire business, because we’re broke, the last enemy of this government—a permanent wartime government—is _the_American_people_, with 5m in jail or on parole.” (2009 - 7m plus).

On Tim McVeigh, Oklahoma City and our future, today (black, naturally - it is Gore Vidal after all). The extreme militia types are ‘the future of the country - the men with the flags and the guns.’ “This is just the very start of the violence.”

Gore Vidal with Patt Morrison - 1995 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L54H8HUNZZs

“You’ll all be welcome in Virginia.” ER, Europe - the dastardly Colin Firth - Shakespeare in Love - @2:06 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgjyk253WV8

VIVA CUBA

@ psychonaut, June 4 at 2:37 pm #
WRONG!

South America has more knowledge of the US and its murderous ways in its little finger than any one hundred US citizens get from the MSM.

They _know_ about the murder, torture, coups, dictators installed, supported, removed. It is only the US citizenry who (generally) have no clue. And not by accident.

If Cuba says “F___ Off!” then fine. They undoubtedly know what they are doing. They have been bombed, shot, hijacked, terrorized, suffered attempted, and real, assasinations. They have had food contaminated, had biological and crop warfare attacks, been denied medical supplies, blockaded, seen their industrial development sabotaged, for fifty plus years.

And they have not been defeated.

Long may they continue to thrive. Long may the ant continue to outwit their insane elephant neighbour, driven mad by their simple defiance and refusal to submit to state terrorism.

Perhaps, after twenty, or fifty, years of peace, equality, fair and open bilateral relations they may reconsider. If the US has not gone the way of Argentina by then.

John Pilger - War on Democracy -

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18236.htm

GATEKEEPERS, Contd.

7.
Wall Street Journal and FT - recommended by Chomsky. Everything else is just spin and about as useful as the funny pages. Including Truthdig.

Next - Operation Mockingbird and its updated counterparts. Not only is the MSM biased, nearly one hundred percent is controlled. Oh Great! NOT.

GATEKEEPERS

1. SPIN - And this was the MSM’s attempt at spin - (New York Times) - ‘Summit Fails to Reach Accord on Cuba’ - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/03/oas-cuba-talks-agreement_n_210773.html

> American officials did not rule out that Nicaragua and Venezuela might force a vote on readmitting Cuba without any conditions. And they might be able to round up a majority of members.

> That would be a stinging repudiation of the United States, which supplies 60 percent of the financing for the O.A.S., and of the Obama administration, which has made reaching out to Cuba one of its diplomatic hallmarks.

A ‘stinging repudiation’, eh? OH LOOK, one ‘stinging repudiation’ coming right up. -

2. REALITY - Cuba Readmitted To OAS “Without Conditions.” Aka the OAS gives the Empire the finger - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/03/cuba-readmitted-to-oas-wi_n_211008.html

3. That was yesterday. Now, today, we get the “authorized version” - New York Times - in Turbo-spin mode - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/world/americas/04cuba.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

4. Why does Truthdig continually rely on MSM stories—on the ‘authorized versions’ of stories, from the New York Times, the MSM—that Chomsky has proved are no better than cheap propaganda?

5. LEFT, RIGHT AND CENTER
Europe has Marxist-Leninists, Trotskyites and Maoists on the (far) left. It has Socialists on the left. It has Labour just left of the middle. It has Social-Democrats in the middle. Then Christian Democrats on the right. It has Conservatives on the (far) right. ‘New Labour’ is a right wing parody of ‘Labour’ - with the name and none of the policies that benefit working people—Margaret Thatcher claimed it as her greatest achievement—(like the devil’s, in persuading people that he doesn’t exist). Then there are the (US) Democrats and Republicans on the (very far) right. And Margaret Thatcher. Mussolini is just beside her. Adolf Hitler is lined up right beside (HA!) the Neocons—just east of Mussolini and Margaret Thatcher—the (ultra-far) right.

On a European scale of left to right, the Democrats,  Republicans and (US laughably un-)left wingers are all six inches apart, standing beside Margaret Thatcher with the bloody axe in her hand that she took to British industry— massive Friedmanite privatization, aka asset stripping—handing UK national oil wealth over to foreign oil companies. US companies—Gee, thanks, Margaret. They would be right beside Jean-Marie Le Pen in France and Jorg Haider in Austria; hard to tell apart from European fascists.

Why would I care? Imagine that you grew up and were ‘educated’ to believe that between the Democrats and Republicans is the ‘middle ground’. You would have no clue that you had been groomed to regard the far right as ‘moderate’ and ‘normal.’ To a European, this is self-evident. As obvious as night and day. But in the US - as rare as hen’s teeth. To a European the deliberate distortion of the natural political spectrum looks like ‘political pedophile grooming’. Which benefits the ‘owners’, the right, the Neocons and the elite. And, as usual, not by accident either.

Sicko - If the US were like Norway it would be a lotus land of peace and harmony, and the hate-filled right wing would be ‘Norwegian conservative guy’ @ 1.20—http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svSUCbClg8E

6. THE US LEFT
Robert Scheer may be an honourable man, but he is in no way ‘left wing’, in any sense that has a meaning outside of the US. And Truthdig reflects this in its stories. Hence the reliance on ‘middle of the road’ stories, the ‘authorized versions’ from the MSM.

7. CHOMSKY’S ADVICE
The managers of the economy need to have a reasonably good understanding of the world Noam Chomsky says. The Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal are the most accurate sources of information. The FT does not have the ridiculous editorials of the WSJ, so the FT is just 100% accurate reporting.

I believe the reaction of the Cuban government towards the OAS’ offer is inappropriate. Certainly, it is true that OAS in the past has been a destructive instrument of the USA directed against every other country on the American continent.

But today, this is not the case. Cuba commands a 2/3-majority regarding its readmission and, if it decides to accept the OAS’ offer of being readmitted, will surely have at least an absolute majority on other matters.

Latin American countries like Venezuela, Brazil and Nicaragua—as well as many others—have worked hard in order to obtain the revocation of the 1962 decision against Cuba.

At that time, it was the Kennedy administration which initiated that resolution. It gained the approval of right-wing generals who were at that time heads of state of the respective Latin American countries. These right-wing generals constituted the political allies of the USA. In other words, there was no such thing as “the world of freedom,” at least not in Latin America.

Nevertheless, the USA claimed it was fomenting “freedom and democracy” in the rest of the world. Unfortunately, it was not able to find appropriate allies in Latin America that could support the USA in achieving these alleged goals. Then, the USA chose the Latin American dictators of the right to be their allies and “overlooked” the fact that these governments were anything but democratic. The rule of law and respect for human rights meant nothing to these generals.

Indeed, the generals were pursuing policies totally remote from ensuring the rule of law and the respect for human rights.