Richard Feinberg: For Latin America, US Shift on Cuba Heals Old Wounds Richard E. Feinberg - Fusion
go to original December 26, 2014

President Obama May Be One Giant Step Closer to Visiting Cuba - 12/17/14 (ABC News)

President Barack Obama’s historic decision to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba has been received with enthusiastic applause throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. From Mexico to Costa Rica, and Chile to Brazil, governments across the political spectrum have welcomed the surprise announcements – via simultaneous televised speeches – by Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro.

Much has been made of Pope Francis – an Argentine national – and his humanitarian intervention on behalf of the spy swap that included the release of USAID subcontractor Alan Gross and three Cuban spies languishing in U.S. jails.

Less noticed has been the quiet parade of Latin American leaders who have met in recent years with President Obama and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry – and Hillary Clinton before him – urging an updating of U.S.-Cuban relations.

Most dramatically, at the 2012 Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia, Latin American leaders pressed Obama to shift course on Cuba and threw down this gauntlet: if Cuba is not invited to the next Summit, we will not attend!

...But why such interest in a rather small Caribbean nation, governed by a five-decade long ruling gerontocracy with a failed socialist economy, seemingly a relic of the Cold War?

The answer lies deep in history and culture, hidden in the collective psyche of Latin America.

Read the whole story at Fusion

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