June 5, 2009 -- Antigua and Barbuda, through, Her Excellency Deborah-Mae Lovell, Permanent Representative of Antigua and Barbuda to the Organization of American States (OAS), who is leading this country's delegation to the 39th regular session of the OAS General Assembly, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, participated in the historic decision by the OAS to rescind the 47 year old resolution which suspended the Republic of Cuba from the OAS.

The adoption of the resolution by acclamation on Tuesday, 3 June 2009 brought to a close an intense period of negotiation which had been taking place at the organization in the lead up to the assembly. The matter of Cuba's re-entry into the OAS gained momentum during the V Summit of the Americas, held in Trinidad and Tobago in April, but a decision on the topic was deferred due to time constraints.

In her remarks to the plenary, Ambassador Lovell indicated that "a new day had dawned in the Americas, and that the last relic of the cold war era had finally been lifted by removing this impediment to Cuba's involvement in the OAS." "The rescission of the 1962 resolution will fill the collective heart of all Antiguans and Barbudans with joy," Ambassador Lovell concluded.

Later, Ambassador Lovell noted that Antigua and Barbuda considered Cuba a sister Caribbean state and as such our country had been consistent in our call to have the embargo imposed against Cuba by the United States lifted.

Resolution VI was adopted on January 31, 1962 at the Eighth Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs. At that time, the majority of the OAS Member States deemed Cuba as a threat to the peace and security of the hemisphere due to its close relations with the then Soviet Union.