Czech government wants EU to get tougher with Cuba

Czech government wants EU to get tougher with Cuba
12.06.2006

Support within the EU for a tougher stance on Cuba is strongest in the
eight eastern European nations that joined the bloc in 2004 and where
memories of the legacy of communism are still fresh.

The Netherlands and Sweden also favor a tougher stance, but Spain is
among countries that oppose it, officials said.

Czech officials said that not only have Europe's policies failed to
foster a measure of democracy in Cuba, but the emergence of Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez has been a boon for Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

A Castro ally, Chavez has called U.S. President George W. Bush an
alcoholic, a terrorist and an imperialist. He has denounced the U.S.-led
war in Iraq, and repeatedly accused the U.S. of trying to overthrow him
to seize the South American country's vast oil reserves. Washington has
denied it has any plans for an invasion.

Czech officials said they want the EU to provide more funding for civil
society groups as it has done for Belarus, a country widely seen as
flouting democracy.

http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/12-06-2006/81859-Cuba-0