MADRID
Thu Feb 25, 2010 6:40am EST
MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's Socialist government on Thursday voiced
criticism of Cuba after the death of a hunger-striking dissident, a
departure from usual Spanish policy of calling for closer relations with
the communist island.
Speaking in parliament, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero
called on Cuba to free political prisoners and respect human rights.
Political prisoner Orlando Zapata, 42, died at a Havana hospital on
Tuesday after refusing food for 85 days to demand better prison
conditions. Zapata was jailed in 2003 for crimes including resisting the
communist government.
Spain has made improving ties with Cuba one of the objectives of its
six-month European Union presidency and has argued Europe should not
demand progress on human rights and improving democracy as conditions
for normal diplomatic ties.
Spanish companies have been among the most prominent foreign investors
in Cuba.
Zapatero was criticized in Spanish media for failing to refer to
Zapata's death in a speech at the United Nations Human Rights Council in
Geneva on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Inmaculada Sanz and Jason Webb; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Spain makes unusual criticism of Cuba | Reuters (25 February 2010)
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61O2NW20100225
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