Pope 1, Obama 0: LatAm United vs Cuba Embargo

I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven - Mateo 18:18

Here's yet another example of how the gringos are unwelcome in their own backyard: A few weeks ago, I discussed the skillful diplomacy the Vatican has conducted over the years with the brothers Castro, culminating in Pope Benedict XVI's open-air mass attended by hundreds of thousands in late March. This is the same Fidel Castro, let it not be forgotten, who jailed (or worse) countless Catholic priests. But His emissary has loosed the chains in dealing with Cuba, even denouncing the antiquated US embargo on the island nation. As Cuba appears poised to re-enter the mainstream of the global community, then, there remains that significant obstacle--as if the Cold War never ended.

By contrast, a still very influential coterie of Cuban-Americans refuses to change hardline attitudes towards Cuba. In turn, their policy influence has ensured that folks like one Barack Obama must carry on the same old tune. So, while the media has had a tawdry fixation on the whoring of Secret Service agents, I have been more captivated by the wretched reception Obama has received at the Americas Summit. The real story with geopolitical significance is that, while seeking to drum up commerce, what Obama has actually reaped is nonstop criticism over Cuba. Even the more US-friendly Colombian hosts hate their treatment of Cuba:

Latin America's militant opposition to the decades-old U.S. isolation of communist Cuba put more pressure on President Barack Obama at the Americas Summit on Sunday and threatened to sink a final declaration...

For the first time, conservative U.S-allied nations like Colombia are throwing their weight behind the traditional demand of leftist governments that Cuba be in the next meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS).

Diplomats said the dispute could block the final declaration planned for Sunday at the closing of the meeting, and originally intended as a hemispheric show of unity."The isolation, the embargo, the indifference, looking the other way, have been ineffective," summit host and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said of the Cuba issue.

There may not even be another representative Organization of American States (OAS) summit if the US does not change its ways. They promised redemption for Cuba but have no delivered. Already, the more left-leaning nations vow to boycott OAS events unless Cuba is given representation (it bears remembering who came up with the OAS in the first place):

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa boycotted the meeting over Cuba, and fellow leftist Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua also stayed at home. The leftist ALBA bloc of nations - including Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua and some Caribbean nations - said they will not attend future summits without Cuba's presence.

So it has come down to this. The Monroe Doctrine folks are so washed up nowadays that they can't even cajole their neighbours into inking a declaration that does not mention Cuba. Overall, the trend seems to be of the Anglophone US and Canada splintering off from the Latin American nations in regional diplomacy. That is, the real gathering of the Americas may no longer include those presumptuous to name themselves and their country after two vast continents inhabited by others with clearly diverse cultures and opinions.

If you can't even pacify a rebellion against US-organized events in your own backyard, what chance do you have elsewhere? Don't forget either, dear heathens, that it's His will.