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European Union for dialogue with Cuba
MEMBERS of the European Union (EU) are in agreement
that the absence of dialogue with the Cuban
government is “not positive,” and have asked their
ambassadors to propose “new measures,” according to
diplomatic sources cited by the Spanish news agency
EFE.
Representatives of the 25 nations of the Latin
American Committee of the Council of the European
Union (COLAT) met in Brussels on November 16 and
approved a Spanish proposal to review the mechanisms
of dialogue.
Spain is in of reviewing the EU agreement of June
2003 that instructs European embassies in Havana to
invite so-called dissidents to their national
holiday celebrations, as it believes that the
measure has blocked talks with the Cuban government
and undermined the efficacy of European policies on
the island.
At
the COLAT, there was consensus over the fact that
the “lack of communication between the affected
parties is not positive,” according to the same
source.
In
this context, the COLAT reaffirmed the validity of
the EU common position on Cuba agreed in 1996.
Even
though not all the goals of the common position have
been achieved, “Cuba’s isolation does not contribute
to reaching them,” diplomatic sources remarked.
The
ambassadors’ report will have to be first studied at
the forthcoming COLAT meeting in December, although
the final decision has to be taken at ministerial
level, during a subsequent EU General and Foreign
Affairs Council meeting, the presidency spokesman
stated.
The
issue dates back to June 2003 when the EU countries
agreed sanctions against Cuba, including limiting
official visits to Cuba as well as inviting
so-called dissidents to the embassies’ parties. The
sanctions were established because the Cuban courts
sentenced 75 individuals for conspiring against
their own country in collaboration with a foreign
power through Mr. James Cason, its representative in
Cuba.
In
response, the Cuban government relinquished European
development aid and suspended contact with European
diplomats who applied the sanctions.
From
last July, Spain—via the government elected by
voters as a punishment vote against president
Aznar—has been requesting the EU to review the
sanctions and normalize relations with Cuba and, in
particular, to articulate alternative forms of
relations with the “dissident” movement that will
not impede dialogue with the Cuban government.
On the other hand, the European Parliament,
controlled by the Popular Party (PP) of ex-president
Aznar, the man responsible for Spanish participation
in the war on Iraq, has continued its escalation of
anti-Cuban sentiment, by getting a resolution passed
by the Parliament echoing US charges against the
island regarding human rights. Miguel Angel
Martínez, a socialist member of the European
Parliament, opposed this resolution on behalf of the
Socialist, Green, and Communist parties, demanding
that Cuba be treated as any other country in the
world. The left ranks occupy 283 seats, whereas
Aznar’s PP and the liberals add up to 356.
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