The OAS and the repolitization of the Cuban question in the Americas

Working Paper nº31

This working paper addresses the way the Cuban issue is dealt with at the OAS general secretariat. Since Luis Almagro’s election as secretary general in 2015, scholars and experts alike have indeed pointed the fact that the role of the OAS general secretariat has shifted as Almagro’s politics have become very much attuned to those of the White House and State Department under president Donald Trump. This was not to be expected as his candidacy had been largely promoted by former Uruguayan president José Mujica, and even supported by Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. The objective of this paper is to try and understand the newfound policy of the secretary general, which I will analyze as a form a re-politization of the institution and of the function of secretary general.