ANALYSIS: Defiant Cuba reinforces Latin ties with Obama on horizon

Jan 14, 2009, 4:29 GMT

Havana - A procession of Latin American leaders has taken over Havana in recent days, sending a signal to Washington about new- found solidarity for Cuba within the region.

With the inauguration of Barack Obama as US president looming on Tuesday, Cuba is flaunting proof that the communist island - far from isolated - has the support of Latin America.

The Havana parade has included not only Cuban allies who are typically critics of the United States, like presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia, the most frequent visitors to Havana in recent years, but more moderate leaders, too.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet are planning state visits to Cuba. Fernandez de Kirchner will be the first Argentine president to visit Cuba since Raul Alfonsin in 1986, and no Chilean head of state has been to the island since Salvador Allende, 37 years ago.

At the start of the year, Panamanian President Martin Torrijos arrived in Havana. During his stay, Cuban authorities paid tribute to Torrijos' father, General Omar Torrijos, who was one of the first Latin American leaders three decades ago to challenge the Washington and restore ties with Cuba.

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa just spent four days in Havana in his first-ever official visit to the island, where he called for an end to the US economic embargo against Cuba.

In the run-up to the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution on January 1, which Cuba celebrated with a very low profile, Cuban President Raul Castro in a television interview emphasized his hopes for dialogue with Obama 'without intermediaries,' though he warned against placing 'excessive hopes' in the incoming US leader.

Regional support for Raul Castro, brother of the ailing revolutionary icon Fidel Castro, has gained momentum at recent Latin American summits. The Rio Group not only welcomed Cuba into its midst but also demanded an end to the decades-long US embargo.

During the US presidential campaign, Obama, a member of the centre-left Democratic Party, awakened great expectations among Cubans, after he spoke out for easing of embargo terms for travel and remittances to Cuba.

Cuba is expected to host other Latin American leaders later this year, though the summit has not yet been scheduled. Mexican President Felipe Calderon is expected sometime this year in Havana to consolidate the normalization of relations between with Cuba. Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom is also due.

Raul Castro, meanwhile, has plans to visit Russia, China and Egypt, following trips in late 2008 to Venezuela and Brazil. The Cuban president has made it clear that Cuba is in no rush for talks with the United States.

'We are not in a hurry,' he said in his latest interview. 'We are not desperate, and of course ... we will not talk with the carrot and the stick. That is over.'