The Cuban Amendment to the Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man that would have fought totalitarianism in the Americas

Cuban diplomats in 1948 advocated for a right to resistance against totalitarianism in the  Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man but failed to pass the motion.

Seventy years ago the Pan-American Union was reconstituted as the Organization American States on April 30, 1948.   This occurred during the Ninth International Conference of American States that was held in Bogotá, Colombia between March and May 1948.

Cuban Ambassador Oscar Gans y Martinez

 During this gathering the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, the world's first general human rights instrument, was adopted. During this gathering the Cuban delegation presented a motion to amend the Declaration to recognize a right to resistance against oppression or tyranny. The motion was voted on with 10 votes in favor; 10 against and one abstention and failed. Below is the case made by the Cuban delegate Ambassador Oscar Gans y Martinez.

Mister GANS (Cuba): Mister President and distinguished delegates: America hates tyranny and oppression, and that is why this Conference has agreed happily to a declaration against international activism that, undermining democracy and the rights of man, tries to impose totalitarian conceptions by foreign or extracontinental efforts.
 

The Delegation of Cuba submits to this Honorable Plenary Assembly an additional amendment to the Declaration of the Rights of Man, in the sense that following Article XVIII of this American Declaration of the Essential Rights and Duties of Man, the following concept be added: "The right of resistance to ostensible acts of oppression or tyranny is recognized", because this addition plays harmoniously with the pronouncement against totalitarian international activism, and by making a broader concept, prevents that by American efforts and without foreign activism they could also organize ways of life and systems within America to liquidate their own pronouncements of this Conference regarding the rights of man. Thus, concluding, the Delegation of Cuba understands that if this addition is agreed to the rights of man, the initiative approved a few days ago is completed in order to ensure that America remains safe against all risk of oppression or tyranny, whether it has international organizations as an agency, foreign or native elements of our own American Continent.

It is ironic that it was a democratic Cuba in 1948 that advocated for a right to resistance against totalitarianism whether it be imported from abroad or home grown. Seven decades later, perhaps it is time again to reconsider this amendment, in light of what has happened in the Hemisphere.

The Cuban diplomats at the bottom of the page played important roles in drafting both the  American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights later that same year.

Ambassador Gans would go on to appear in the pages of Life Magazine diplomatically outmaneuvering Soviet diplomat Gromyko at the United Nations in 1951.

Below is the original text in Spanish of the resolution presented in 1948:

El señor GANS (Cuba): Señor Presidente y señores delegados: América odia la tiranía y la opresión, y por eso ha acordado esta Conferencia un pronunciamiento feliz contra el activismo internacional que, socavando la democracia y los derechos del hombre, trata de imponer las concepciones totalitarias por gestiones foráneas o extracontinentales.

La Delegación de Cuba somete a esta Honorable asamblea plenaria una enmienda adicional a la Declaración de los derechos del hombre, en el sentido de que a continuación del Artículo XVIII de esta Declaración Americana de los Derechos y Deberes Esenciales del Hombre, se agregue el siguiente concepto: "Se reconoce el derecho de resistencia ante actos ostensibles de opresión o tiranía", porque esta adición juega armónicamente con el pronunciamiento contra el activismo internacional de carácter totalitario, y haciendo un concepto más amplio, impide que por gesti6n americana y sin activismo foráneo pudieran también organizarse formas de vida y sistemas dentro de América que liquidaran los propios pronunciamientos de esta Conferencia respecto de los derechos del hombre. Así, terminando, la Delegación de Cuba entiende que de acordarse esta adición a los derechos del hombre, se completa la iniciativa aprobada hace algunos días a fin de 'que quede América garantizada contra todo riesgo de opresión o tiranía, ya tenga por agencia grupos internacionales foráneos o propios elementos nativos del Continente Americana.


CUBA 

PRESIDENTE DE LA DELEGACION:
S. E. Guillermo Belt,
Embajador de Cuba en los Estados Unidos de América


SUBSTITUTO:
S. E. Oscar Gans y Martinez,
Embajador Extraordinario y Plenipotenciario en la República Argentina

DELEGADOS:
S. E. Ernesto Dihigo y López Trigo,
Profesor de la Universidad de La Habana

S. E. Carlos Tabernilla,
Ministro de Cuba en Colombia

Señor Ricardo Sarbasa,
Primer Secretario de la Embajada de Cuba en los Estados Unidos de América

Señor Guy Perez Cisneros,
Agregado Comercial de Cuba en los Estados Unidos de América

SECRETARIO GENERAL:
Señor Emilio Pando,
Segundo Secretario de Legación, Ministerio de Estado, La Habana