Identidades in English No 4, December 2014 | Page 119

spell of the Caribbean seascape - in gatherings replete with festive cocktails, the latest fashion, traditional folk music, and smiles. Smiles which, in
addition to cordiality, transmit: “What you do
within your own borders is your problem, and
so long as it does not affect me, we will live in
peace.” This political climate, partially insulated
from tensions due the need for coexistence, is
Latin American in nature, without a doubt.
With this understanding, “Tropical Peace” can
be defined as a “state of tranquility and good relations among the governments of Latin America,
which, based upon convenient permissiveness,
promotes a regional harmony which is not in
keeping with its internal affairs; a government ignores the internal affairs of its counterparts, so
long as the rapprochement produces reciprocal
benefits for both sides.” By political extension,
the notion includes Latin American countries that
are not in the inter-tropical zone.
This concept is the central idea for this article and
figures significantly in the dynamics of the Colombia-Cuba relation.
As a result, it is impossible not to pose the question: What might have President Santos meant
when he said: “We cannot be indifferent to the
process of change within Cuba”? As it happens,
the answer has been in the making over the last
few years, and it appears that Santos’ statement,
along with many other calls to abandon indifference towards the island, has impacted the international community.
At first glance, one might naively believe that
Santos was attempting to induce his colleagues to
offer support and formulate proposals so that
Cuba could make progress in executing a substantial reform of its own political and economic
model. -Yet, since the principle of non-intervention in a State’s internal affairs is sacred, and
both Cuban officialdom and all other governments see that clearly, this interpretation is in fact
an outright acceptance of Cuba’s political and
economic model. On the contrary, it configures
what in reality should be expected of this solution
to indifference: a Cuban government finding
spaces for participation in the international arena,

being acknowledged by its counterparts, and once
more triumphing over the “strict” clauses that in
the normative framework of international organizations oblige government to behave democratically, and guarantee c