Marín courts Havana in a ‘spirit of openness’

Date: 15/02/1996

FIDEL Castro is still standing firm against calls to reform the Communist system he built to last forever in Cuba.

But although he refuses preconditions when the EU says it wants to talk business, he is at least talking.

He even gave a ten-hour audience to External Affairs Commissioner Manuel Marín during the Commissioner's three-day visit to Havana last weekend.

Although numerous European firms operate in the region, Cuba is the only Latin American country which has no formal pact with the EU. The Union now wants to move towards a trade and economic cooperation agreement with the island nation which for decades has been the pariah of the West.

Diplomatic initiatives have mushroomed in recent weeks. Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Isabel Allende met Marín in Brussels last week after which she travelled on to Rome for talks with Italian Foreign Minister Susanna Agnelli.

Agnelli's office said that she had assured Allende that the EU would evaluate its ties with Cuba in a “spirit of openness”.

Before leaving the island, Marín, who is responsible for Latin American relations, said a preliminary agenda for EU-Cuba negotiations was on the table and that it included proposals for political reforms as well as economic changes.

EU officials have been pushing Cuba to open up its state-run economy, making way for free enterprise and expanding the private sector. They also stress the need for political changes, including a reform of the country's penal system.

The Union has long criticised Cuban authorities for jailing political opponents of the Communist regime. But Marín has made it clear that “solutions must come from inside Cuba”.

A Cuban delegation is expected in Brussels next month to present a more detailed position to the Commission, which will then draw up a mandate for talks. But Commission officials say that even if EU governments approve a negotiating strategy this year, as expected, the negotiations could take up to three years.

When the Union announced its desire to begin relations with Cuba last year, Washington responded critically. But the rift which threatened to open up between the EU and US over this issue has not materialised, the Clinton administration has softened its line, and the Union has asked that its 33-year-old trade embargo against Cuba be lifted.

Clinton's special adviser for Cuba, Richard Nuccio, speaking during a recent tour of Union capitals to discuss Cuban policy, said the US approved of EU plans for a cooperation accord with Havana.

Washington hopes the talks will promote a “peaceful democratic transition”. Like the EU, the US also wants to see changes in Cuba's penal code and the establishment of private property.

Nuccio said the US administration was not worried that the Union's talks with Cuba would move too quickly, because they would be slowed down by differences among EU member states over the pace and extent to which ties should be built.

Even Spain, the most outspoken champion of EU-Cuba links, could change its policy. If centre-right candidate José Maria Aznar defeats Socialist Prime Minsister Felipe Gonzalez in next month's general election, he is unlikely to push as hard as Gonzalez did in Castro's favour.