Why the U.S. Still Hates Cuba At the centre of the Summit of the
Americas held in Trinidad and Tobago over April 17-19, was the
only country from the hemisphere not present — Cuba. Speaking at
the opening session, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega noted
that while a large majority of the heads of states of the
Americas were present, “there are two major absentees”. The
first was “Cuba, whose crime has been to fight for its
independence, for the sovereignty of the peoples; lending
solidarity, without conditions, to our peoples, and for that it
is being sanctioned, for that it is being punished, for that it
is being excluded.” The second was the nation of Puerto Rico,
which continues to be an official colony of the United States —
denied independence. In 1962, Cuba was expelled from the
Organisation of American States for having openly declared the
nature of its revolution to be socialist — based on the ideology
of “Marxism-Leninism”. Despite its exclusion, Cuba’s presence
was felt at the summit. In his April