Mailliard discusses United States relations with Cuba in light of the economic and political restrictions imposed on the Cuban government by the U.S. in 1964. The Organization of American States (OAS) aims to increase technical proficiency in Latin American nations. This is in the interest of the U.S. because development contributes to political stability and opens new trade opportunities. When the U.S. and Latin American countries came together to discuss whether to lift the economic and political restrictions on Cuba, the U.S. abstained from voting. The majority of votes favored lifting the restrictions, but fell short of the required two-thirds majority. This shows that Latin America does not have a single-minded view of the Cuban issue.