U.S. Pressures Argentina to Isolate Cuba

Last year, the United States was not voted onto the United Nations Human Rights Commission for the first time in that organization's 50 year history. This was a great victory for those who oppose U.S. bullying on the world scale and was widely seen as a significant political stand against the U.S. After the vote, several countries reported on the pressure the U.S. had exerted on them to support its agenda, particularly its annual resolution to condemn Cuba for alleged violations of human rights. This annual resolution from the U.S. was one of its lynch pins for justification of its continued economic and political blockade against Cuba which has now surpassed 41 years.

One of the countries the U.S. has been pressuring to support an anti-Cuba resolution at the UNHRC meeting in Geneva later this month is Argentina. In late January, Argentina's Foreign Minister, Carlos Ruckauf, travelled to Washington seeking aid for his country's devastated economy. It is apparent that aid was offered contingent on Argentina's support of the anti-Cuba resolution, because after a very brief meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Ruckauf emerged with a statement that Buenos Aires would work jointly with the U.S. on the issue of human rights in Cuba.

In the days following the Foreign Minister's announcement in Washington, many politicians in Argentina spoke out against the plans to censure Cuba. Deputies of the Peronist Party presented a proposal demanding that the government abstain from voting in favour of any resolution condemning Cuba. Others urged Argentina to regain its sovereignty in matters of foreign policy. Former Argentine President and current Senator, Raul Alfonsin, also lent his voice, calling the U.S. campaign one of the most conspicuous examples of the discriminatory manipulation of international co-operation. Alfonsin also pointed out that Argentina has voted against the U.S. blockade of Cuba at the UN General Assembly, thus making it untenable and contradictory to support a resolution based on arguments that attempt to justify the blockade.

Last year, Argentina voted with the U.S. resolution at the UNHRC in exchange for Washington's support of a multi-billion dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund.