CUBA-EU: Diplomatic Thaw Paves the Way for Improved Relations

By Patricia Grogg Reprint | | Print |

Patricia Grogg

HAVANA, Jan 10 2005 (IPS) - The Cuban government’s decision to resume formal contacts with the European Union after a diplomatic freeze of over a year and a half has opened the way to improved relations, although some sectors in Cuba are less than pleased with the move.

"We can say that from this moment on, Cuba has re-established official government-level contacts with all of the countries of the EU," Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque told a press conference on Monday.

Pérez Roque said the diplomatic thaw was prompted by "a respectful request" received last week from the governments of Luxembourg – which currently holds the presidency of the EU Council – Spain and Belgium, as well as European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michel.

The Cuban government responded by re-establishing official contact with the embassies of the Netherlands, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic, and with the European Commission delegation.

As a result, Cuba has now resumed normal diplomatic ties with all of the countries of Europe. Relations had already been mended with Spain, Belgium and Hungary by the end of 2004, while the renewal of formal contacts with France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Austria, Greece, Portugal and Sweden was announced by Pérez Roque on Jan. 3.

This previous gesture was considered positive but insufficient by EU spokespeople, which led to the subsequent request that Cuba extend its diplomatic rapprochement to all of the bloc’s members.

Ireland, Finland, Denmark, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Slovenia do not have embassies in Havana, which means that contacts with them were never cut off, the foreign minister clarified.

Pérez Roque said that Cuba’s gesture was prompted by the decision adopted by the EU Commission on Latin America (COLAT) to recommend a change in policy towards Cuba.

This new stance would include ceasing to invite Cuban government opponents to official national holiday celebrations at EU embassies on the island.

"This rectification opens the way for us to reappraise our response measures," said the foreign minister, who described Cuba’s dissidents as "mercenaries paid and directed by the government of the United States."

Relations between Cuba and Europe were virtually frozen after the EU adopted a series of sanctions against the island in June 2003, as a means of protesting the arrest and sentencing of 75 government opponents and the executions of three men who attempted to hijack a passenger ferry to the United States.

The punitive measure that most deeply angered the Cuban government was the decision to invite dissidents to official embassy receptions, which led the diplomatic freeze to be dubbed "the cocktail wars".

On Jan. 31, the EU Council of Ministers will meet to study COLAT’s recommendations to relax these sanctions, which some members of the bloc believe have been ineffective.

This re-evaluation of the EU stance towards the island has been met with varied reactions among Cuban dissidents, ranging from support to outright rejection.

Manuel Cuesta Morúa, spokesman for Arco Progresista, a coalition of small, moderate opposition groups with a social democratic slant, told IPS that this new situation will create a climate for rational dialogue between the two sides, which will allow the EU to exercise a favourable influence with regard to human rights and democratisation in Cuba.

"This influence is like an umbrella that is permanently open over Cuban society, and should never be closed," he said.

Cuesta Morúa downplayed the importance of an eventual suspension of invitations to national holiday celebrations.

"For us, the important thing was to maintain a certain level of political recognition, and this is ensured by the ongoing and structured dialogue that the EU plans to establish with opposition sectors," he said.

Meanwhile, Vladimiro Roca, spokesman for the Todos Unidos dissident group, said that the Cuban government has been attempting to divide the EU for a long time, "and it has finally succeeded."

At the same time, Roca harshly criticised the position adopted by the European bloc, claiming that it has not acted on the basis of principles or the defence of democracy and human rights, but rather "its own interests, which are essentially economic."

He added that it was highly unlikely that the Cuban government would "open up spaces for democracy" or release all of the country’s political prisoners, a demand that continues to be made by some EU members.

According to a recent report by the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation, another dissident group, there are a total of 294 people currently serving prison sentences or awaiting trial for political reasons.

In making its calculations, the organisation, led by Elizardo Sánchez, included the 14 dissidents from the group of 75 sentenced in 2003 who have since been released from jail on medical grounds and are serving their prison time under house arrest.

According to Sánchez, the release of these prisoners "could be revoked at any time by a simple and irreversible police decision."