CUBA-SPAIN: Tense Relations Capped by Blow-out

By Dalia Acosta Reprint | | Print |

Dalia Acosta

HAVANA, Nov 26 1996 (IPS) - Cuba’s Deputy Minister Isabel Allende said Tuesday that the government’s withdrawal of approval from Spanish Ambassador Jose Coderch was a responsible move, not a “temper tantrum.”

“Sometimes it is better to take strong measures than to wait for bigger problems” to erupt, Allende told Cuban T.V.’s national newscast, in response to Spanish Foreign Minister Abel Matutes’ attempt to minimise the importance of Monday’s decision against Cordech.

That decision was the result of “inappropriate” remarks by the ambassador published Oct. 30 by the Madrid daily ‘ABC’, according to a Cuban Foreign Ministry communique printed Tuesday in ‘Granma’, the official Communist Party daily.

On that occasion, Coderch announced his embassy’s open door policy for Cuban dissidents, and said he would do everything possible to help the opposition and promote a peaceful transition to democracy in the Caribbean nation.

The government of Fidel Castro called his statements a violation of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, and warned that it would not tolerate meddling in its domestic affairs. The Cuban Foreign Ministry accused Spain of acting as “the spearpoint for U.S. interests in the European Union.”

The Foreign Ministry declaration states that Cuba’s decision was the product of “a long, in-depth analysis” of a chain of events, rather than an isolated incident.

“The Spanish government has the right to change its policy towards Cuba. Our right is to respect that decision, and say what the changes will mean,” said Allende, who avoided referring to future relations with Spain.

The origins of the current blow-up date back even prior to the election of the head of Spain’s current government, the centre- right Jose Maria Aznar. One of the campaign promises of his conservative Popular Party was for a radical overhaul of Spanish policy towards Cuba.

At a joint press conference with U.S. Vice-President Al Gore in May, Aznar announced that his country would take a tougher stance towards Cuba.

A few days later, the Hispano-Cuban Foundation was created in Spain. Sponsored by the Foreign Ministry, it is presided over by the leader of the right-wing Cuban exile community in the United States, Jorge Mas Canosa, while members of the governing Popular Party sit on its board of directors.

But Allende denied any link between Cuba’s move against Cordech and the approval by the European Union on Monday of a document that states the need to encourage the emergence of a multi-party system, respect for human rights and basic freedoms in Cuba.

The text of that document — based on a Spanish proposal that according to the Cuban Foreign Ministry looked like a “carbon copy” of the recommendations made by U.S. special envoy Stuart Eizenstat during his recent tour of Europe — has not even reached Cuba through official channels, said Allende, who insisted that the causes of the diplomatic row were strictly limited to “bilateral affairs.”

According to Allende, the decision to act on Cordech’s remarks was put off while the Cuban government awaited a response from the Spanish government as to whether the ambassador’s comments were merely an expression of personal opinion, or a reflection of official policy.

Spanish Foreign Minister Abel Matutes told a Tuesday press conference that Coderch’s statements were “extremely sensible,” and that they reflected “the Spanish government’s policy towards Cuba.”

Aznar’s tougher stance could affect his country’s interests in Cuba. Spain is one of the Caribbean nation’s main commercial partners and its largest foreign investor.

Luis Yañez, foreign relations spokesman for the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), the chief opposition force in Spain, lamented Cuba’s decision, which he blamed on the Aznar administration, “poorly advised by radical sectors of the Cuban exile community and his own party.”

Aznar has ignored more balanced advice from Spain’s diplomatic corps, which is not interested in a confrontation with any Latin American country, he added.