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| Europe |
| Spain justifies calls for new EU line on Cuba |
| 2004-10-15 |
| Spain is to try to persuade its partners in the European Union to modify policy towards Cuba, on the grounds that it is not working, a senior government minister said Friday. Her statement follows a controversy over remarks made by the Spanish ambassador in Havana which led Cuban dissidents to walk out of a Spanish national day reception there last week. Carlos Alonso Zaldivar told his guests that the Socialist government elected this year had embarked on "a reflection" with EU partners to find a way out of the present "deeply unsatisfactory" state of relations with Cuba. "We want to move beyond the current situation and resume dialogue with all political and social sectors" in Cuba, the ambassador had said. In June 2003 the EU adopted diplomatic sanctions against Cuba after the arrest of 75 disidents, protesting against the heavy sentences passed on them and the execution of three Cubans who were trying to flee the country. Among the EU measures was a decision to invite dissidents to embassy receptions to mark national days. "The only thing we highlighted is that it is proper to work, as is already the case, in the framework of the EU to modify a policy which so far has shown istelf fairly ineffective," Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, deputy prime minister, told reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting. She said the "basic aim" of the government headed by Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is "the defence of human rights" in Cuba, arguing that government policy towards Cuba and dissidents "has been very clear over the last years and remains so today." Zapatero sought to play down the embassy incident in Hungary Friday saying that it was government policy to "demand firmly and strongly" change in Cuba, while acknowledging that Madrid wants sanctions against Cuba eased. He also restated Spain's "open disagreement with the human rights and liberties policy of the regime of Fidel Castro." The opposition conservative Popular Party called Thursday on Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos to apologise to the dissidents or fire the ambassador "immediately". |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |
| #1 The only thinkg that will work is to starve the Castro brothers to death. If Spain gives any support to the Castro's it proves they have fecal matter where grey matter should be. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-10-15 7:51:43 PM |