Iberoamerican Summit: Cuba Demands Declaration against Honduran Election, Others Fear Getting on US’ Bad Side

Two articles

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Cuba Demands Rejection of Honduran Elections at Iberoamerican Summit

HAVANA, Cuba, Nov 30 (acn) Cuba demanded the adoption of a declaration against the Honduran
elections held yesterday in this Central American country, during the 19th Iberoamerican
Summit of Heads of State and Government that began today in Estoril, Portugal.
    Speaking at the meeting, the head of the Cuban delegation, Foreign Minister Bruno
Rodriguez Parrilla, warned about the threat that Washington’s military doctrine represents for
Latin America and he advocated the closing of the US Naval Base and torture camp in the
illegally occupied territory of Guantanamo, as well as its return to Cuba.
    Rodriguez also demanded the immediate release of five Cuban antiterrorists who remain
unjustly imprisoned in the United States, Prensa Latina reports.
    The Cuban top diplomat said that there is a dictatorship in Honduras that was established
through a military coup with the encouragement and support of the United States.
    “If we recognize the spurious government that emerges from this election, we would betray
the principles of peace, democracy and justice we defend, and this Summit should take a stand
in this respect,” the Cuban official stressed.
    “We are certain that the Honduran people, with their struggle, will have the final say,”
he added.
    Rodriguez Parrilla commented that, already in the 21st century, the United States threats
Latin America with an aggressive military doctrine, the reactivation of its 4th Fleet and the
establishment of military bases.
    “Their main goal is to control the region; to bring their military power close to the rich
sources of material and energy resources of the region,” he explained.
    “This is an offense against the dignity of our peoples and a threat to peace, stability
and sovereignty. They not only aim against Venezuela, which has the right to defend itself,
but against all the countries of the region,” Rodriguez pointed out.
    “Latin America and the Caribbean should be free from foreign military bases and
terrorism,” he concluded.

Worldnews/ef/10:50

Cuba reclama en Estoril rechazo a elecciones en Honduras

Cuban News Agency
www.cubanews.ain.cu

Ibero-American ministers fail to agree on Honduras Posted on : 2009-11-29 | Author : dpa News Category : Europe    Estoril, Portugal – A summit of 22 Ibero-American countries began Sunday in the seaside resort of Estoril, Portugal, amid divisions over the elections being held simultaneously in Honduras. Foreign ministers were unable to reach a common position on the situation in Honduras, where toppled president Manuel Zelaya has called for a boycott of the elections staged by the de facto government. “What is at stake is whether we validate or not a new methodology of coups d’etat,” said Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana, whose country was seeking a rejection of the elections along with Bolivia, Cuba, Brazil, Spain, Venezuela, Ecuador, Paraguay, Guatemala and Chile. “We do not recognize those who carried out the coup” that ousted Zelaya on June 28, Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca told the German Press Agency dpa. Some countries, however, felt the elections should be recognized as a way out of the political deadlock in Honduras. “The elections represent a step ahead,” Panamanian Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Varela told dpa. “(The coup) was six months ago, and we need to look to the future of 6 million Hondurans.”Peru and Costa Rica were also believed to agree with the United States, which has said it will recognize the elections. Heads of state were due to discuss the matter on Monday. The 14 heads of state in attendance included Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, one of the first to arrive, whose country is feuding with Venezuela over US use of military bases in Colombia. The absence of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was expected to reduce bickering between Colombia and Venezuela at the summit but also to lessen chances of mediating the neighbour’s diplomatic row. Chavez has called on Venezuelans to prepare for a war against what he calls a US-Colombian plot to promote “Yankee imperialism,” after Bogota authorized Washington to use seven military bases. Chavez blamed his failure to attend the summit on having “a lot of work, a lot of trips” on his agenda. Latin America’s leftist regimes had a lowered profile at the summit with further absences of two Chavez allies, presidents Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, Evo Morales of Bolivia and Raul Castro of Cuba. Honduran de facto leader Roberto Micheletti did not attend, either. With polls open Sunday for the country’s regularly scheduled elections, Micheletti had stepped aside for a week coinciding with the vote to remove the leadership crisis as a distraction. Ibero-American countries include Latin American countries, Spain, Portugal and Andorra. The official motto of the summit was “Innovation and Knowledge,” as it prepared to discuss ways to promote new technologies in Latin America. Policies in that field would determine “the success or failure of economies” in the medium and long term, Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates said at an Ibero-American entrepreneurial meeting in Lisbon. Colombian singer Shakira and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, meanwhile, urged Latin American governments to do more to protect children in the region. “Latin America has 35 million children without any state protection,” Shakira said after meeting Bachelet in Estoril. The singer has helped to launch a Regional Alliance for the Development of Early Childhood (DIT), which she was due to present at the summit.

 

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