EU nudges Cuba on human rights, to no avail
BY ROBERT WIELAARD
Associated Press
BRUSSELS -- The European Union said it made no headway Monday in nudging
Cuba to improve its human rights record, a pivotal issue in an EU debate
about whether to lift diplomatic sanctions against the Caribbean island.
''Our views converged on issues such as climate change and United
Nations reform,'' but not human rights, Czech Foreign Minister Jan
Kohout said after meeting with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez.
The two sides had a ''frank'' dialogue about human rights and ''the
issue of political prisoners. The answer we got was that in Cuba there
are no political prisoners,'' Kohout, whose country holds the EU
presidency, told reporters.
The EU imposed diplomatic sanctions, including a ban on political and
other consultations, against Cuba in 2003 after the arrests of dozens of
dissidents. While the sanctions were suspended in 2005, they have not
been lifted and relations have remained touchy.
The EU foreign ministers are to decide in June whether Cuba merits
better relations with Europe or a reimposition of the sanctions.
The EU has been reviewing the relationship and set tough conditions for
Havana to have better relations. These include the release of all
political prisoners, unhindered access for Cubans to the Internet, and
the right of EU delegations arriving in Cuba to be able to meet with
opposition figures. Its review coincides with signals that Washington
may be ready for a new start with Cuba.
Recently, the White House authorized unlimited travel and money
transfers for Americans with relatives in Cuba, while asking Cuba to
respond by making small political and social changes to its single-party
communist system.
The United States has a decades-old economic embargo on Cuba.
In April, President Raul Castro said Cuba was willing to discuss better
relations, but his brother, ex-president Fidel Castro, has since said
Cuba must make no concessions in return.
EU diplomats said that while there was a perception that things are
changing in Cuba and that those changes might be huge in Cuban eyes,
they are minor shifts to outsiders.
Kohout said while the EU and Cuba continue to disagree on human rights,
Monday's meeting with Rodriguez ``was a real dialogue, not just two
monologues.''
Within the EU, Spain always has wanted to improve relations with Havana,
while countries such as Britain, the Czech Republic, Poland and Sweden
have always been more guarded, insisting the EU only fully normalize its
ties with Cuba after civil and political freedoms are granted to all
citizens.
EU nudges Cuba on human rights, to no avail - Cuba - MiamiHerald.com (11
May 2009)
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1042653.html
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