FM: Cuba won't return to OAS

Cuba reaffirmed Thursday that it won't return to the Organization of American States (OAS), from which it was expelled in 1962, although it invited the OAS chief to attend an upcoming conference here. "The national position of Cuba related to the OAS remains invariable. We will not return to it," Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said at the official launch of the international press center for the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) summit, set for Jan. 28-29. "The OAS has played a historically negative role serving as a tool for the United States," he added. The minister said Cuba invited OAS General Secretary Jose Miguel Insulza to the CELAC summit in Havana, but this did not mean any changes in Cuba's relations with the U.S.-based OAS. It will be the first time in half a century that an OAS general secretary visits Cuba. The OAS expelled Cuba in 1962 under pressure from the United States. The sanction was lifted in 2009, but Havana refused to rejoin the organization.