The United States has come under more pressure over its Cuba policy at the annual meeting of the Organisation of American States being held in Honduras.

The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said Cuba should only be allowed to rejoin the regional grouping after it released political prisoners and accepted democratic reforms.

But the host president, Manuel Zelaya of Honduras, described the expulsion of Cuba in 1962 as a day of infamy.

“It’s time to correct that mistake,” Zelaya told the policy-making OAS assembly.

Latin American and Caribbean countries are overwhelmingly in favour of readmitting the island, but it’s unclear whether they will force a vote on the issue.

Officials in Havana have reacted by criticising the OAS and the US stance.