Cuba's  allies in Latin America instead called for Cuba to be  allowed back in from the cold with no conditions, and Secretary of State  Hillary Clinton came under heavy pressure at the OAS meeting here this  week. In a diplomatic compromise,  the group's member countries agreed that Cuba's re-entry would be "the result of a  process of dialogue" that Cuba has to request and must be  in line with OAS principles. Clinton said  Cuba's return to the  group -- which is little known in the United  States and Canada but carries diplomatic weight in  Latin America -- would now "turn on Cuba's  commitment to the organization's values." That was a reference to the  OAS's commitment to defend democracy and human rights under a 2001  Democratic Charter. "I am pleased that everyone  came to agree that Cuba  cannot simply take its seat and that we must put Cuba's  participation to a determination down the road - if it ever chooses to  seek re-entry," she said.

REJECTION FROM  CUBA

Alonso, who anchors the  state-run evening television news program, Mesa Redonda (Roundtable), said  Havana "recognizes the political courage, the symbolism and defiance"  represented by the decision to lift the  suspension. But hours before the OAS vote,  Fidel Castro described the body as an "accomplice" to crimes against  Cuba. Cuba's  leftist allies in the region had pushed for the suspension to be lifted  and treated the vote as a diplomatic victory for Cuba. "The Cold War has ended today  here in San Pedro  Sula. We have made a wise and honorable decision,"  Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said.

Despite opening up to  Cuba, Obama has refused to drop  the decades-old embargo on the island, saying its communist leaders need  to free political prisoners and improve human  rights. U.S.  officials sought to cast the outcome as a victory, arguing they had staved  off the possibility of the OAS simply throwing open its arms to  Cuba by rescinding the  suspension without any insistence on democracy and human  rights. "The ball is now in  Cuba's court to abide  by the principles of human rights and democracy embodied in the  Inter-American Democratic Charter," said Representative Eliot Engel,  chairs of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. Staunch opponents of the Cuban  government in the Cuban- American community were not happy with the OAS  decision. U.S. Representative Ileana  Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs  Committee, from Miami, called it "an affront to the Cuban  people and to all who struggle for freedom, democracy and fundamental  human rights."

"Rather than upholding  democratic principles and fundamental freedoms, OAS member states, led by  the OAS Secretary General, could not move quickly enough to appease their  tyrannical idols in Cuba," Ros-Lehtinen said. The OAS move could allow  Cuba to request loans from the  Inter-American Development Bank, although it was not clear if it would  first have to apply for membership or if the lifting of the suspension  would be enough.

(Reporting by Anahi Rama  in Honduras, Jim Loney  in Miami and Esteban Israel in Havana; Editing by Peter  Cooney)