Cuba has already said that it has no interest in joining the OAS, which it feels to be an arm of the US. It is more likely that the OAS decision will be nothing more than a gesture of openness, one that was never expected to be accepted. It may in fact push Latin American leaders to form their own alternative group, a concept first suggested by the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa. The ALBA - the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas - is already one manifestation of this feeling. An association made up of Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, the ALBA represents a breaking away from the grips of American hegemony and deregulated free trade economics. The ALBA is founded on the principals of solidarity, socially-oriented trade, and more favorable terms for the underdeveloped nations of the region.
The Obama administration has many decisions to make in terms of how far they will take their change concept. So far the Latin American left is slightly appeased, as well as many in the United States and abroad who had hoped for something more, something concrete. A lack of action by the United States, will probably mean a more forward movement by the rest of the Americas. As America has ostracized many nations such as Cuba before, perhaps someday the juggernaut will stand on the other side of the mirror.
