EU Says No Progress with Cuba on Human Rights- FM Bruno Rodriguez in Brussels

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Two articles. With Czech Republic leading the way.
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DPA: EU to push Cuba on human rights as foreign minister visits Brus
Posted by: "Walter Lippmann" [e-mail] walterlx
Mon May 11, 2009 9:40 am (PDT)


EU to push Cuba on human rights as foreign minister visits Brussels

Posted : Mon, 11 May 2009 09:41:39 GMT

Author : DPA

Brussels - The European Union on Monday planned to push Cuba to improve its human-rights record, including by releasing political prisoners, as the island's foreign minister arrived for talks at the bloc's headquarters in Brussels. The trip comes at a fluid time in the world's relations with the communist Caribbean island, after President Barack Obama recently relaxed travel restrictions for US citizens imposed by his predecessor, George W Bush.

"We are looking forward to hearing what are the intentions of the Cuban minister, specially with the situation regarding human rights," said Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout on behalf of the EU's rotating presidency.

During his visit to Brussels, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla was to meet officials from the current and next EU presidencies, as well as EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and EU Aid Commissioner Louis Michel.

Several EU governments, led by former colonial master Spain, are eager to normalize relations with Cuba following the recent diplomatic overtures offered to its new leader, Raul Castro, by United States President Barack Obama.

But the Czech Republic and other member states remain sceptical, with Kohout telling reporters that Cuba still needs to do more on the human rights front.

"The steps taken in the last years have not been big enough to satisfy us," Kohout said.

The meeting in Brussels was the second of its kind since EU leaders agreed in June to lift diplomatic sanctions against Cuba.

The lifting of the sanctions, which included limits on high-level government visits and the role of EU diplomats in Cuba's cultural events, was largely symbolic, since the bloc had already suspended them in 2005.

EU foreign ministers are due to discuss the bloc's relations with Cuba at a meeting scheduled to take place next month in Luxembourg.

REUTERS: EU says no progress with Cuba on human rights
Posted by: "Walter Lippmann" [e-mail] walterlx
Mon May 11, 2009 12:28 pm (PDT)


EU says no progress with Cuba on human rights
Mon May 11, 2009 7:00pm BST

By David Brunnstrom

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union and Cuba disagreed over the communist island's human rights policy on Monday but a senior EU official made clear he opposed any move to resume sanctions lifted last year.

EU Aid Commissioner Louis Michel called instead for more dialogue with the Caribbean island and diplomats said the Union was unlikely to revert to sanctions next month when it reviews the decision to lift them.

"Our views did converge on the issues of climate change and U.N. reform; they did not in the area of human rights," Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout said after EU officials held talks with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez.

"We came back to the issue of political prisoners in Cuba and their health, and the answer we got was that in Cuba there are no political prisoners," he told reporters.

Despite this, Kohout said the talks had been "a real dialogue, not just two monologues."

The 27 EU member states agreed last June to scrap sanctions on Cuba to try to encourage democratic reforms, but decided to review the decision annually.

"OBSOLETE" CRITICISM

"Cuba is ready to normalize relations, to establish a new start in the relationships between the European Union and Cuba," Rodriguez said.

He said the common EU position on Cuba, with its emphasis on human rights criticism, was "obsolete."

"It was imposed by a North American government which is not in power any more, and I view it today as an obstacle to the process of normalization," he told reporters.

He said all inmates in Cuba had undergone due legal process and were not political prisoners.

"These are legal decisions, and not of a political nature," he said. "The Cuban penal system fully complies with all standards in this domain."

Michel, who represents the EU's executive Commission, underlined the importance of the resumption of dialogue and the coming to power of U.S. President Barack Obama.

"Dialogue has been re-established, the cooperation has resumed, and you also have a change of administration in Washington," he said.

"These elements should encourage us to reinforce the dialogue, to pursue the dialogue and have a positive position in the (European) Council (of EU leaders)."

Obama says he wants to recast U.S.-Cuban relations after half a century of hostility, but wants to maintain a U.S. trade embargo imposed on the island in 1962 as leverage for change.

But he has eliminated some restrictions and curbs on U.S. telecoms firms wanting to operate in Cuba, while calling on Havana to improve human rights to get more concessions.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Marine Haas, editing by Mark Trevelyan)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/globalNews/idUKTRE54A4P320090511