‘Cuba will never rejoin OAS over Venezuela’

** FILE ** Cuban President Fidel Castro, left, and his brother, Minister of Defense Raul Castro, attend a Cuban Parliament session in the Palace of Conventions in this July 1, 2004, file photo in Havana, Cuba. It was announced, Monday, July 31, 2006, that Fidel Castro has temporarily relinquished presidential power to his brother Raul due to illness. (AP Photo/Cristobal Herrera, file )

HAVANA. — Cuban President Raul Castro says the country will not return to the Organisation of American States (OAS) in a show of solidarity with Venezuela.

OAS Secretary General Luis Almargo has called for sanctions against Venezuela.

At a summit of Caribbean countries in Havana, Castro called the OAS “an instrument of imperialist domination”.

Meanwhile, former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has met jailed Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez.

It was Leopoldo Lopez’s first visit from anyone other than family members or lawyers since the 45-year-old was sentenced to 14 years in prison last year after being found guilty of inciting violence.

His supporters insist he is innocent and say he was jailed on trumped-up, politically-motivated charges.

The meeting at Ramo Verde military prison outside Caracas lasted about 90 minutes, according to Adriana Lopez, the opposition leader’s sister. — BBC.