Latin American Support for Cuba Grows
BOGOTA, Dec. 12 (UPI) — Support for Cuba’s inclusion in Latin American regional conferences and organizations is growing amid renewed links reinforcing the Caribbean nation’s ties with Moscow. Cuba emerged as a power broker behind the scenes as it hosted peace talks between Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebel group and Colombia, a U.S. ally increasingly in favor of an end to the U.S. embargo Cuba. Recent contacts also drew Cuba into networks including the Union of South American Nations. [emphasis added]
But the FARC talks carry a special prize for Havana. If a peace deal brokered in Cuba leads to FARC joining Colombia’s political process, it will raise questions about the U.S. embargo, the longest in history. A peace deal would be a major diplomatic achievement for President Raul Castro’s government and a blow to Washington’s attempts to punish Cuba aiding FARC, one of several reasons the embargo has lasted so long, globalpost.com said. The FARC insurgency was partly inspired by Fidel Castro‘s 1959 takeover but the government of the Castro brothers over the years “has paid a steep price for its links to the Colombian rebels,” globalpost.com said. Some FARC rebels are said to be living in Cuba. [emphasis added]
As the talks began FARC offered a cease-fire to Jan. 20, 2013, but Bogota vowed to continue attacks on suspected FARC strongholds. If Cuba can make the cease-fire permanent and help deliver a peace deal, FARC would likely be transformed into a legitimate political party in Colombia, globalpost.com said. That would make Cuba’s inclusion on the terror list obsolete, “even if anti-Castro hard-liners in the U.S. Congress try to block a change,” the website said. “More broadly, a resolution to the Colombia conflict would bring Cuba full circle, from regional outcast during the Cold War — when Havana armed and supported guerrilla movements throughout the hemisphere — to Latin American peacemaker.” [emphasis added]
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has set November 2013 as the deadline for an agreement. More than 600,000 people died in FARC-related violence in Colombia since 1964. Alongside FARC peace talks, Colombia has been supporting Cuba’s inclusion in regional Latin American conferences and organizations. Strong support for Cuba has also come from Brazil after President Dilma Rousseff offered Cuba a multibillion-dollar trade, economic and technical assistance program. Colombian Vice President Angelino Garzon was reported calling for an end to the U.S embargo.
Meanwhile, Russia has stepped up business contacts with Cuba, following direct air links with proposals for a joint airline. A joint airline will give Russia greater access to Latin American countries, Rossiyskaya Gazeta government-run newspaper said, quoting Deputy Transport Minister Sergey Aristov. Traffic from Russia to Cuba is growing every year, Ministry of Industry and Trade head Denis Manturov told the newspaper. In 2011, 80,000 Russian citizens visited the island.
Editor’s Note: For information on 50 years of Cuban’s support to Colombia’s FARC, see Chris Simmons’ Congressional testimony from May 17, 2012, http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/112/HHRG-112-FA07-WState-SimmonsC-20120517.pdf
For information on the Castro regime’s long history of using its intelligence services to subvert peace negotiations involving allied guerrilla groups, see: Manipulating the Contadora Peace Process
Cuba Confidential 
Chris, I will copy this article and post it in Cubaaldescubierto.com where saturday I will put new satellite pictures of the three site that the tarining for the FARC was done in Cuba.
Those sites were called PETI’s, PETI 1, PETI 2, and Punto Cero in Guanabo.
As a said before,all we have to do is to look at a South American map and see how many friends we still have in this world region,Is this a mere coincidence? Of course not,it is the elaborate work of the Castro communist DI,that is doing everything to subvert the Interest of the US in this region of the world,the last 12 years,we have seen a Communist take over of the South American Continent,Cuba has turned every South America with the exception of an few into Proxy nations that support communism,If the Cuban DI do not subvert them through guerrilla support they have been doing it with propaganda and rigged elections.Example Nicaragua in which Daniel Ortega a declared Communist friend of the murderers Castro brothers has en-throne in power once again,Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, Evo Morales and the “Cuban Communist’ influence tried to take over Honduras by trying to Install a Communist president to try to complete the ring of communist control of the Central American region,In this case Honduras said no to communism and did not allowed to happen.
The Castro regimen has tried for decades to have their embargo lifted because they know,if the embargo is lifted the dictator regime will breath easier and they will have a relieve of their internal problems besides for the murderer Castro Brothers it would be a political Victory. Actually this regime is trying a different approach to get their embargo lifted by this regime trying to negotiate with Colombia which years ago the Castro brothers were subverting the very same country they now are trying to negotiate with,Raul Castro’s Strategy is to plant the seed of doubt in Colombia by pretending to be the Good Guy,the mediator of this Crisis which from the beginning his corrupt government help create.