Development & Aid, Headlines, Latin America & the Caribbean

DEVELOPMENT-CUBA: Any Cutting of EU Aid Would Hurt Populace

Patricia Grogg

HAVANA, Jun 2 2003 (IPS) - If foreign aid for economic and social development programmes in Cuba is reduced in reprisal for the socialist regime’s recent crackdown on dissidents, it would be the people, rather than the government, who would be hurt, say international aid officials in Havana.

Foreign aid targets people, and less assistance means less people are reached, Bruno Moro, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) resident coordinator in Cuba, told IPS.

According to foreign diplomats in Havana, several European countries may cut off or reduce their aid to Cuba in response to the stiff prison sentences handed down to around 75 dissidents in April and the firing squad execution of three men who hijacked a commuter ferry in an attempt to defect to the United States.

But Moro, an Italian national who is also resident coordinator of the entire UN system in Cuba, argued that a distinction should be made between political differences and the need to maintain international aid programmes. ”We have stressed this several times, and we are reiterating it again now,” he said.

Italy is among the nations that were reportedly ”rethinking” their position regarding aid to this Caribbean island nation, especially aid that goes through multilateral channels.

Moro noted that Italy is one of the countries that has channeled the largest donations and grants to Cuba, where it has played a leading role in a series of economic and social development programmes.

European Union spokespersons insinuated last month in New York that the bloc was preparing to cut its contributions to international economic and social development programmes in Cuba.

”It would be very sad if Italy cut off its aid, because many people would be affected,” said an Italian aid official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Cuban populace ”spends the money coming from international cooperation in very effective ways.”

But EU chargé d’affaires in Cuba, Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff, denied to IPS that the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, was considering that possibility.

Moro also said that ”I am not aware of any statement or decision by the EU to cut off aid.”

In Moro’s view, Cuba makes exceptionally good use of international aid, and is ”very cautious and precise” in its use of funds, from which it obtains the maximum advantage. ”In that sense, I believe it is a highly qualified recipient,” he said.

Cuba is the only country in Latin America lacking a framework agreement for cooperation with the EU, which means that there is no contract regulating relations between the two sides in the mid- to long-term, and assistance is channeled solely through specific initiatives.

Official Cuban estimates put the EU’s total assistance to Cuba in the past decade at 116 million dollars, 66 percent of which was comprised of humanitarian aid.

The current 16 million dollars in annual aid coming from the EU is administered by the European Commission’s office in Havana, headed by Burgsdorff, which was opened in March by EU Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Poul Nielson.

The EU delegation’s office is now in charge of coordinating European aid initiatives in Cuba and channeling the political dialogue between the government of Fidel Castro and the European bloc.

But the rapprochement between the EU and Cuba developing until early this year was dealt a harsh blow by the executions of the ferry hijackers and the severity of the sentences handed down to the dissidents, who are now serving prison terms of up to 28 years.

The Cuban government said it was forced to take such measures to defend itself from external aggression. But the crackdown drew fire from international human rights groups and even renowned leftist and progressive intellectuals around the world.

The tension with the EU led to the European bloc’s Apr. 30 decision to indefinitely postpone consideration of Havana’s application for admission to the Cotonou Agreement, a trade and aid pact with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) nations.

Two weeks later, the Cuban government withdrew its request to join the Cotonou Agreement, accusing the EU of attempting to pressure Cuba ”by establishing unacceptable conditions” and meddling in internal affairs.

Political analysts believe the Cotonou accord, one of the broadest existing multilateral aid mechanisms, was the option that presented the best prospects for consolidating Cuba’s relations with the EU.

The UNDP and the United Nations population programme (UNFPA) provided Cuba with 37.9 and 4.5 million dollars, respectively, in assistance between 1997 and 2003.

Part of those funds comes from grants to the United Nations agencies or contributions from European nations for bilateral initiatives, which are channeled through the multilateral system.

UNDP programmes in Cuba currently benefit nearly half of the country’s 11.2 million people, and include support for the needy, the manufacture of medicines, HIV/AIDS prevention efforts, and support for the productive sectors, biotechnology, fish-farming, and urban agriculture.

On the environmental front, international donors are helping to finance projects for cleaning up the heavily polluted Havana Bay, promoting renewable energy sources, and carrying out efforts to combat climate change, such as retiring old refrigerators and manufacturing new, ozone-safe ones.