As the nations of the Western Hemisphere prepare to meet in Honduras for the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), the question again arises as to whether this hemisphere stands with the principles of democracy or the terror and misery of tyranny. It would seem an easy choice, but a move is afoot to readmit Cuba to the OAS. Such a move, if not quashed with vigor, sends a chilling message regarding the future of our hemisphere. In September 2001, the OAS achieved a global first and, unlike any other region its size, ratified a document outlining 28 agreed-upon articles that resolve to promote democratic institutions, free and fair elections and the protection of human rights.
The document, the Inter-American Democratic Charter, states in its first article that, ``the peoples of the Americas have a right to democracy, and their governments have an obligation to promote and defend it.''
The Charter goes on to outline what it calls ''the essential elements of representative democracy'' as including respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, access to and the exercise of power in accordance with the rule of law, the holding of periodic, free, and fair elections, a system of pluralistic political parties, the separation of powers and the independence of the branches of government.
This commitment by this hemisphere to democracy has few precedents and makes our hemisphere distinct. It reflects the leadership this hemisphere has taken during the past 30 years to embrace democratic norms and ensure respect for an individual's fundamental freedoms.
Push to readmit
But some, including the secretary general of the OAS, have brought this powerful commitment to democracy and human freedom into question by suggesting that it is time to readmit the Cuban dictatorship into the organization.
In 1962, the decision to exclude the Castro government from active membership in the OAS was based on a unanimous declaration that Marxism-Leninism, a system that still prevails in Cuba, was incompatible with the inter-American system. The OAS stated that such a system with its denial of freedom and dignity to individuals was anathema to the core principles of representative democracy, human rights and self-determination.
The only tragedy larger than the Cuban regime's failure to break from its past would be the General Assembly's readmission of a country that has not shown the will to meet any of the commitments outlined in the Democratic Charter.
Recently, 250 Cuban activists, in Cuba, signed an open letter to the OAS stating, ``Cuba has not been separated from the OAS. It is the tyrannical regime which violates the public liberties of Cubans that has been separated. Nevertheless, what worries us most is not the affront which would be committed against our rights by accepting the dictatorship which oppresses us as an equal in terms of the fundamental values of its democratic neighbors, but rather the damage that would be inflicted on the hemisphere itself.''
There should be no ''Cuba exception'' to this hemisphere's commitment to democracy. The United States should encourage the OAS to formulate how it might help Cuba make a transition to democracy and become fully compliant with the Democratic Charter. The Cuban people, not the current government elite in Havana, need to be the guides of this process. The opening move must be a dialogue between the government in Havana and the Cuban people.
Help the Cuban people
The OAS, the United States and all signatories to the Democratic Charter should focus on helping the Cuban people claim their fundamental rights and fulfill the vision of protected democracy and human rights. Cuba's readmission to the OAS would be a perversion of principle and a stunning reversal of democratic progress; it would be the dissolution of this hemisphere's significant commitment to freedom and would make the OAS a hollow body.
Born in Cuba, Mel Martinez is a U.S. senator from Florida and former secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
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