- Title: COLOMBIA: OAS summit focuses on food prices, Cuba and Ecuador-Colombia dispute
- Date: 2nd June 2008
- Summary: (W1) MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA (JUNE 1, 2008) (REUTERS) FOREIGN CHANCELLORS AT INAUGURATION (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) JOSE MIGUEL INSULZA, SECRETARIO GENERAL DE LA OEA SAYING: "This assembly is taking place at the moment in which the scarcity of food begins becoming alarming in all regions of the planet. The experts are still finding explanations to the speeding up of the increase in basic food prices but the prices have practically doubled in the last three years. This situation is condemning many millions of human beings to stay or return to poverty."
- Embargoed: 17th June 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Colombia
- City:
- Country: Colombia
- Topics: International Relations,Economic News
- Reuters ID: LVAC5G2IW45R8VT0NSF6U6V59W8A
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: The secretary general of the OAS hopes for Cuba's reintegration, and warns over food prices, as Ecuador asks the organisation to investigate Colombian claims of links to leftist rebels.
Organization of American States Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza said on Sunday (June 1) he was closely watching political developments in Cuba and hoped the country could one day return to the body.
"We continue watching the development of the political process in Cuba. Our hope will always be to see that beloved brother nation reintegrate itself fully to our organization. I know this is a complex matter and I don't want it to be the motive for discord among us. I think our conduct over this should be guided by a flexible disposition and a willingness to dialogue," he said at the inauguration of an OAS summit in Medellin, Colombia.
Cuba was thrown out of the OAS in 1962, three years after Fidel Castro took power and seized U.S. corporations-- which caused the U.S. to impose a commercial blockade.
The U.S. is among 34 countries that are members of the international body.
Insulza also said he was concerned over the increase in worldwide food prices.
"This assembly is taking place at the moment in which the scarcity of food begins becoming alarming in all regions of the planet. The experts are still finding explanations to the speeding up of the increase in basic food prices but the prices have practically doubled in the last three years,"
he said. "This situation is condemning many millions of human beings to stay or return to poverty."
The recent increase in prices has sparked protests in Latin America and clashes in Haiti that left at least 5 people dead.
Meanwhile, the governments of Colombia and Ecuador mentioned issues surrounding Colombia's March 1 raid on a rebel jungle camp on Ecuadorean soil.
The raid killed the rebel group's No. 2 commander Raul Reyes and took the lives of 19 soldiers. But the attack infuriated the leftist governments in neighbouring Ecuador and Venezuela, who sent troops to the border and have since brought charges against Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's government.
Uribe said his administration continues to ask forgiveness from the Ecuadorean government.
"We've been willing to ask for forgiveness and we repeat it and because of that we are profoundly grateful for the presence of the Ecuadorean foreign minister. The only thing we ask is that they help us live as you live," he said.
Uribe has accused both Ecuador's Rafael Correa and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez of collaborating with rebels, while the leftist leaders accuse Uribe of a smear campaign against them to divert attention from a scandal involving his allies at home and violent paramilitary groups Colombia has pointed to data on a computer they say was seized from that camp as evidence of Venezuelan ties to the guerrillas.
Ecuadorean Chancellor Maria Isabel Salvador asked the OAS to investigate.
"We will ask the secretary-general to please analyze, investigate and do everything necessary to determine what needs to be determined regarding that information," she said.
Both countries share a 400-mile-long (600-km-long) porous border that is often crossed by Colombian guerrillas to set up camps and plot attacks against the Uribe's government. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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