IBERO-AMERICA SUMMIT: Final Declaration to Include Cuban Anti-Terrorism Resolution

By Tito Drago Reprint | | Print |

Tito Drago

SAN JOSE, Nov 19 2004 (IPS) - Just when it seemed that Cuba would be locked in a standoff with the other countries represented at the 14th Ibero-American Summit, currently underway in the Costa Rican capital, Mexico’s intervention smoothed the way for a consensus on a draft resolution condemning the pardon granted to four Cubans jailed in Panama for attempting to assassinate Cuban President Fidel Castro.

The annual Ibero-American Summit brings together representatives from Spain, Portugal and 19 Latin American countries. It begins with a meeting of national coordinators, who work together to draft a final declaration, which is then further polished by a meeting of foreign ministers and finally adopted by the heads of state and government at the actual summit, which begins tomorrow.

On Tuesday, the Cuban delegation submitted a draft resolution to the meeting of national coordinators which condemned the pardon and stated the names of the four men charged with plotting an attempt on the life of the Cuban leader during the 10th Ibero-American Summit, held in Panama City in November 2000.

The resolution was criticised by a number of delegations, who maintained that condemning the decision would be tantamount to denying Panama’s sovereign right to enforce its own legislation, as it did when granting the pardons.

Various alternatives were put forward in the attempt to reach an agreement that would satisfy Cuba but would neither offend Panama nor contravene international law.

The Spanish delegation proposed expressing “concern” over “the pardon recently granted to four known terrorists of Cuban origin”.

In addition, Spain justified the inclusion of the resolution in the final declaration to be adopted by the heads of state and government, in view of the fact that the crime for which the four were pardoned took place in the context of a previous Ibero-American Summit.

After hours of discussion, Cuba refused to accept the Spanish proposal and the national coordinators finally resolved to leave the issue to be dealt with during the foreign ministers meeting.

This unpropitious beginning led to the fear that for the second time in the history of the Ibero-American Summits, a final declaration would be adopted without a consensus.

The only other Summit at which this occurred was precisely the one held in Panama. The Spanish government, led at the time by conservative Prime Minister José María Aznar, proposed a declaration condemning the Basque separatist group ETA, but refused to accept a modification put forward by Castro, adding a condemnation of the four recently pardoned Cuban-born terrorists, who had been apprehended and detained by the time the Summit began.

On that occasion, all of the delegations voted in favour of the text submitted by Spain, except for Cuba, which abstained.

This time, however, shortly after the foreign ministers’ meeting got underway, Mexico’s Ernesto Derbez proposed a modification of the Spanish text stating that the governments represented at the Summit “join in the opposition expressed by the current Panamanian government” towards the pardon, which was approved by former president Mireya Moscoso just days before she left office.

In late August, the presidency of Panama passed from Moscoso to Martín Torrijos, son of the late General Omar Torrijos, who governed Panama between 1968 and 1978 and re-established diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1974.

The four men pardoned – Luis Posada Carriles, Gaspar Jiménez, Pedro Remón and Guillermo Novo – had been charged and sentenced for plotting to plant high-powered explosives in a Panamanian university auditorium and detonate them during a speech to be given there by Castro.

As soon as they were pardoned and released from prison, all four immediately left Panama.

Posada Carriles has been identified by the Cuban authorities as the primary figure responsible for blowing up a Cuban plane with 73 passengers on board over Barbados, on Oct.6, 1973. There were no survivors. He has also been linked to numerous other anti-Cuban terrorist activities.

With the Mexican modification incorporated into the resolution, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque stated that he was satisfied with the text, and it was approved by all of the other participants, including Panama. It will now be submitted for adoption by the Ibero-American heads of state and government, which is considered automatic.

The draft final declaration establishes the 21 countries’ commitment to international law and the goals and principles of the United Nations Charter, as well as respect for the sovereignty and legal equality of all states, the principle of non-intervention, the prohibition of the threat or use of force in international relations, respect for territorial integrity, the peaceful resolution of disputes, and the protection and promotion of all human rights.

It also includes a pledge to strengthen multilateralism by promoting a broad and comprehensive reform of the United Nations, aimed at making it more efficient, transparent, representative and democratic.

A large section of the draft Declaration of San José, as it will be known, is dedicated to the issue of education, “a basic and inalienable human right” as well as ôa fundamental instrument for promoting development and equity.”

As such, the draft declaration calls on all member states to place priority on the formulation of educational policies and programs, and proposes the exploration and adoption of “innovative” financing mechanisms, such as swapping debt payments for investments in education.

Other resolutions to be submitted for adoption by the heads of state and government address issues like the environment, the Falkland/Malvinas Islands (currently under British control but considered by Argentina to be part of its own territory), air transportation, ports, diplomatic academies, immigration, the fight against corruption, agricultural subsidies, the situation in Haiti and cooperation with middle-income countries.