Iberoamerican Summit

This is an important piece of news that seems to be getting minimal coverage in the American press: Summit backs Cuba against US The Scotsman (UK) 10/14/05.

The 15th Iberoamerican Summit has been meeting in Salamanca Spain, bringing together the leaders of Spanish- and Portugese-speaking countries.  Before the summit opened, the foreign ministers of the group protested the US trade embargo against Cuba:

Foreign ministers from Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries have expressed support for Cuba in its battles against the US.

"We ask the US government to fulfil 13 successive resolutions approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations to put an end to the financial, commercial and economic blockade which it maintains against Cuba," the ministers said in a statement.

"We reaffirm once more in defence of the free exchange and transparent practice of international trade, that unilateral coercive measures which affect the welfare of people and obstruct integration processes are unacceptable," the ministers said.

The US embargo against Cuba, which aims to squeeze the island's economy and push out Cuban President Fidel Castro, is now in its fifth decade. Cuba claims the embargo has cost it 82 billion dollars.

In terms of overthrowing the Castro government, this embargo has been spectacularly unsuccessful.  But it continues, with bipartisan support.

The heads of government at the summit formally approved the foreign ministers' protest: Los líderes iberoamericanos refrendan una declaración contra el "bloqueo" de EE UU a Cuba  El País (Spain) 15.10.05.  The US embassy in Spain expressed "disquiet" about the possibility of the summit action.  The government of Spanish President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero expressed surprise at the embassy's position.  Later, the embassy issued a statement declaring the "excellent relations" between Spain and the US.

As diplomatic disputes often are, this one involved a semantic difference.  In previous years, the summit had condemned the "embargo" against Cuba.  This year, they used the term preferred by the Cuban government and condemned the "blockade."

Zapatero, in a statement apparently designed to express annoyance at the US protest, said Spain's relations with the US are "adequate, correct and fluid."  He called the embassy's objections "false polemics":

El presidente del Gobierno, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, ha señalado después que la relación de España con Estados Unidos es “adecuada, correcta y fluida”, y ha calificado este desencuentro como “falsa polémica”.

Reuters reports on the flap: Latin American summit backs Cuba despite U.S. concern by Emma Ross-Thomas and Axel Bugge Yahoo! News/Reuters 10/15/05.

Hugo Chavez apparently attracted more American press attention: Chavez says world facing major energy crisis by Ciaran Giles Houston Chronicle/AP 10/15/05.

"The world will have to get used to a barrel price, I think, of above $50, and energy will have to be saved," he told reporters ...

After soaring in August, crude oil prices have been between $60 and $70 a barrel for more than a month.

"We're at the doorway of major energy crisis worldwide," Chavez said. "We'll have to develop other resources such as wind, solar and nuclear energy — naturally for peaceful purposes." He said Venezuela was in talks with Argentina and Brazil regarding nuclear power. ...

Chavez said a "lack of imagination in the United States and the war in Iraq, which has destabilized the market in the Middle East, has also driven up prices." Increased demand from countries such as China and India is making the problem worse, he said.

The English site of the Cuban paper Granma, which reflects the government positions, doesn't seem to have a current report available yet.  Spanish reports are available on the main site:

Concluye hoy la XV Cumbre Iberoamericana de Nidia Díaz y Jorge Luis González Granma (Cuba) 15.10.05

Unánime apoyo de los cancilleres iberoamericanos a lucha contra el bloqueo y por la extradición del terrorista Luis Posada Carriles de Nidia Díaz y Jorge Luis González Granma (Cuba) 13.10.05.