Strasbourg, 04/09/2003 (Agence Europe) - Cuba, one of the last Communist regimes in the world, is in a disastrous position in terms of economics and liberty, but this cannot be put down to the American embargo (even though we may question its justification?): what can the European Union do strategically to promote the country's democratic transformation? This is the question put by the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, German Christian Democrat Elmar Brok, to Council and Commission during Wednesday's plenary.
The President of the Council, Franco Frattini, repeated the EU's common position, which calls upon Cuba to apply a de facto moratorium on the death penalty, free political prisoners, guarantee humane treatment for detainees, and send out a positive signal in economic matters, by supporting private initiative. By following its strategy of constructive commitment, the Council would be prepared to boost development co-operation in sectors which may help to promote transition towards a pluralist democracy and improved quality of life, but only if such funding leads to a "real and immediate" improvement. This position was confirmed by Commissioner Poul Nielson, who said: Cuba only wishes to deal with NGOs, but as the Union has always worked with NGOs, I cannot see any problem, as long as we make sure that these talks are visibly Union operations, and their control is guaranteed. The Union's presence in Cuba has never been greater than it is now, he noted, stressing the need to maintain a long-term perspective for this country, because, as he pointed out, "there is a Cuba after Castro".
All MEPs who spoke condemned human rights violations in Cuba, and several of them stressed the need to maintain a consistent European line on Fidel Castro's regime: Cuba must not divide us, said Gerardo Geleote for the EPP-ED, asking for any gestures to be avoided which could look like differences of opinion within the Union. Another Spanish MEP, Raimon Obiols i Germà, pleaded in favour of a constructive dialogue: forty years of American embargo have not managed to change the situation, so we need to find a different approach. And show solidarity with those who want democratisation, said Carles Gasoliba i Böhm, another Spanish MEP, for the Liberals. Changing the tone, his compatriot Pedro Marset Campos, speaking on behalf of United European Left/Nordic Green Left, criticised the death penalty and repression in Cuba, but recalled human rights infringements in other countries such as Colombia and Argentina, where they also affect children, he said, which is not the case in Cuba. The European Union must take a different position to the United States by adopting dialogue without conditions, said Mr Marset, observing that in 1999, Fidel Castro had described the arrival of the euro as a hope also for the third world. The first non-Spaniard to take the floor in the debate, Marie Anne Isler Béguin, defended the position of the Greens/ALE, speaking of Cuba's unique situation as the only Caribbean country not to be linked to the Union by a co-operation agreement. The Portuguese José Ribeiro i Castro, speaking for the Union for a Europe of Nations group, asked the Union for clarity, coherence and imagination. Paul Couteaux of France, for Europe of Democracies and Differences, wants something more. He repeated the words of General de Gaulle, who said that States should be recognised, not governments; he also observed that Cuba is culturally very close to Europe, in such things as music, which youth holds so dear; and that, for many, Fidel Castro remains "the incarnation of the rebel defender of the liberty of his people". When we ask them to respect human rights, he added, we should not forget the "slightly barbaric" way in which the United States has been settling its scores with its enemies in the Cuban prisons at Guantanamo. His conclusion: Europe should take a more brotherly stance towards Cuba. We have tried everything in our relations with Cuba, protested Italian Radical Emma Bonino, but nothing has worked, and the Union's only representative in Havana is a kind of hostage to the system. Her suggestion: a broad discussion of world organisation and democracy. Fidel Castro needled us with his recent words, said Austrian Social Democrat Johannes Swoboda, but he cannot react by refusing contact which the population and dissidents want.
In a joint resolution by five political groups (EPP-ED, PES, ELDR, Greens/ALE, and UEN), which was adopted on Thursday in Strasbourg, the European Parliament notes that the human rights situation in Cuba has seriously worsened, and calls upon the Commission and the Council to take all measures necessary to ensure the immediate liberation of persons imprisoned, including political prisoners. The EP deplores the decision taken in Cuba to refuse EU aid, and reiterates the EU's commitment to supplying aid to the Cuban people. It also calls for the embargo imposed on Cuba by the United States to be lifted immediately.