Brussels, 28/08/2001 (Agence Europe) - "We confirmed the will of both parties to create conditions for a political dialogue based on mutual respect and without preconditions", declared the President of the EU Council of Ministers, Louis Michel at the end of his meeting last week in Havana with President Fidel Castro and Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque. During this "exploratory meeting", Louis Michel noted a "climate of confidence but that needs stimulating by gestures on both sides", his spokesperson stipulated.
The visit, organised on the initiative of the Council President and which at the last minute changed into a visit by the "European Troika" (see EUROPE of 23 August, p.2), allowed them to clarify the positions of both sides and to confirm their will to rekindle the political dialogue broken-off after the EU had supported the adoption of a UN Resolution condemning human rights in Cuba, European diplomats stress. "It was essentially a test" in anticipation of the forthcoming bi-annual review in November of the EU's common position on Cuba, adopted in 1996, says a European diplomat. Tied by that common position, adopted at the time under pressure by the new Spanish Government of Jose Maria Aznar and still defended firmly by Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, the Belgian Presidency in fact only has a narrow margin of manoeuvre, despite the backing of France and Portugal which seem more in favour of a resumption of relations. To amend this common position, the EU would need a "gesture" on the part of Cuba, with the liberation of political prisoners or the abolition of the death penalty that is, moreover, not in fact implemented in Cuba, remarks a European source. "The EU is seeking mechanisms to improve the dialogue, but the criteria defined by the common position remain the same", observes another source. In his talks, Louis Michel raised the issue of political prisoners and human rights in Cuba and met several dissidents, such as Martha Breatriz Roque, Rene Gomez Manzano, Gerardo Sanchez and Oswaldo Paya. "We are not calling on Europe to impose conditions, but as long a human rights are not respected in Cuba, ties between Europe and Cuba risk becoming an element of this order that oppresses the Cuban people", Oswald Paya told Reuters. For the Cuban press in Miami, the visit by the Council President was a failure demonstrating "Europe's political ambiguity". "Belgian Foreign Minister Returns Empty Handed" was the headline of Monday's El Nuevo Herald of Miami.