Cuban–Latin American Relations in the Context of a Changing Hemis ...

Chapter 1

Introduction

Gary Prevost

Following the election of Mauricio Funes to the presidency of El Salvador in 2009, relations between Cuba and Latin America came full circle. El Salvador subsequently restored its diplomatic relations with Cuba—being the last Latin American country to do so—just months after the marking of the fiftieth anniversary of the Cuban revolution. In the wake of those dramatic events fifty years ago, all of the Latin American countries, with the exception of Mexico, severed their formal ties with the island. In 1962, under heavy U.S. pressure, Cuba’s membership in the Organization of American States (OAS) was suspended. In May 2009 at a historic OAS meeting in Honduras, the Latin American countries, against the strong wishes of the United States, voted unanimously that Cuba should be returned to full membership in the organization. How is such a dramatic change in Latin American attitudes toward Cuba to be explained? Given the continued U.S. opposition to normalized relations with Cuba, what is the significance of this for U.S.–Latin