OAS Votes to Let Cuba Back In

Reversing a landmark of the Cold War in the hemisphere, the Organization of American States announced Wednesday it has revoked Cuba's 1962 suspension -- welcoming the communist country back into the organization and thereby riling opponents of the Cuban government..

"The Cold War has ended this day in San Pedro Sula," said Honduran President Manuel Zelaya immediately following the announcement.

The action was taken "without conditions," Ecuador's Foreign Minister, Fander Falconi, said. But it does set mechanisms for Cuba's return -- including its agreement to comply with OAS conventions on human rights and other issues.

"This is a moment of rejoicing for all of Latin America," Falconi told reporters after the session. The decision was taken by consensus, meaning the United States accepted it.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted that the suspension does not allow Cuba to return to the organization without first committing to the organization's values.

"I am pleased that everyone came to agree that Cuba cannot simply take its seat and that we must put Cuba's participation to a determination down the road -- if it ever chooses to seek reentry," she said.

But some U.S. lawmakers are taking steps to override the decision.

Florida Rep. Connie Mack, the top Republican on the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, introduced bipartisan legislation Wednesday before the vote to withhold U.S. funding for the OAS if Cuba was readmitted as a member.

"I think it's a shame that the OAS would include Cuba when Cuba has done nothing to try and change, and done everything to oppress the people of Cuba," he told FOXNews.com after the vote. "There are still political prisoners, no freedom of expression, no free and fair elections. The OAS has defied their own charter."

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the vote shows that the OAS is trying to "appease their tyrannical idols in Cuba."

"Today's decision by the OAS is an affront to the Cuban people and to all who struggle for freedom, democracy, and fundamental human rights," she said in a statement. "Far from strengthening the OAS, today's resolution flies in the face of the organization's founding charter."

"No U.S. taxpayer funds should go towards supporting this sham of an organization that once prided itself on its historic commitment to democracy and human rights," she added.

Thomas Shannon, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, hailed the vote as a diplomatic success.

"Today has been a historic day for the inter American system," he said. "This establishes a path forward that has multiple steps to it. This is an important day that listens to the concerns of the region."

Shannon added that the focus now has shifted to moving forward "rather than on having a stale 47-year debate."

Many countries pushed to readmit Cuba without preconditions, but U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had urged the OAS to require that Cuba make democratic reforms and improve respect for human rights.

Cuba's government, however, repeatedly has said it has no interest in returning to the 34-member organization, which it calls a tool of the United States.

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro wrote in state newspapers on Wednesday that OAS should not exist and historically has "opened the doors to the Trojan horse" -- the U.S. -- to wreak havoc in Latin America.

The U.S. won Cuba's suspension from the hemispheric body in 1962 as Cuba's government veered into the Socialist bloc. But in recent years, with the tensions of the Cold War fading, Cuba's isolation melted away. Every country in the hemisphere except for the United States has re-established relations with Cuba.

Membership in the OAS gives a country a voice in hemispheric agreements on major issues. The OAS has often tried to mediate solutions to political conflicts and it has offshoots that coordinate health policies and protect human rights.

Clinton left Honduras before the final vote, saying that the organization had been unable to reach consensus on Cuba. The meetings dragged on so long she did not even have time to deliver a prepared speech of 1,500 words before flying out of Honduras to join President Obama in Egypt.

The Obama administration has hoped its recent overtures to the Cuban government would overcome widespread resentment in the Americas over Washington's long history of isolating Havana.

Clinton spent much of Tuesday pressing OAS members to agree to a formula under which the organization would rescind its 1962 suspension of Cuba but tie its return to democratic reform.

"A number of countries were pushing hard for a simple resolution that would lift the suspension and nothing else, (but) we have been making the case that that is not in the best interests of the OAS," Clinton said.

In doing so, Clinton highlighted the administration's outreach to Cuba over the last four months, noting it had lifted restrictions on money transfers and travel to the island by Americans with family there and was resuming long-stalled immigration and postal service talks.

In her prepared statement for Tuesday's closed session, she acknowledged that "in the past, the U.S. has sometimes taken a counterproductive approach to domestic affairs within the hemisphere that created mistrust and suspicion," according to a copy given to reporters.

But she allowed that the U.S. was "pretty much by itself" in making the demands. She claimed to have made steady progress in convincing moderate nations of their importance to the group's credibility.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said the United States is continuing to use the OAS as "an instrument of domination" and that Cuba's suspension was due to the support of former conservative Latin American dictators who were "used by the Yankees."

At a news conference the Sandinista leader accused the Obama administration of being no different from previous administrations. "The president has changed, but not American policy," Ortega said.

Honduran President Manuel Zelaya called Cuba's suspension, and the U.S. embargo on the island, a "day of infamy" and a grave injustice. "Friends, it is time to correct that mistake," he told the meeting.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.