Michel to meet Castro in bid to rebuild EU-Cuba relations

By David Cronin

Date: 17/03/05

LOUIS Michel, the European commissioner for development and humanitarian aid, will fly to Havana next week to re-establish senior-level dialogue with Fidel Castro's regime.

Michel's three-day visit (24-26 March) follows an agreement by EU foreign ministers in January that a series of sanctions against the Cuban government should be temporarily lifted. These measures, including curbs on high-level contact and systematically inviting critics of Castro to receptions held by the European embassies in Cuba, had been imposed after 75 pro-democracy activists were imprisoned in 2003 for circulating banned books and writing articles for foreign publications. Fourteen of the dissidents have subsequently been released.

As well as holding talks with Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque, Michel plans to meet the government's opponents. An encounter with Castro, Cuba's president since 1976, has not been officially scheduled yet but aides to Michel say one is expected.

One Commission source said that EU governments "are clearly expecting progress" on EU-Cuba ties to be reported when foreign ministers discuss the matter in June. They could then lift the sanctions permanently if the human rights situation on the island improves.

While Cuba announced in 2003 that it would decline all direct aid from the EU, the latter provided €1 million in humanitarian assistance for those uprooted by hurricanes Ivan and Jeanne last year. Cuba had previously applied to join the Cotonou Agreement - the €13.5 billion trade and aid deal underpinning EU relations with the African, Caribbean and Pacific bloc. But Cuba withdrew its bid, amid Union protests at the execution in 2003 of three men who had tried to reach the US by hijacking a ferry.

Human Rights Watch has urged that Cuba should be condemned at this year's session of the UN Commission on Human Rights (14 March-22 April). According to the campaign group, the Cuban government systematically denies the rights to freedom of expression and association by intimidating and arresting its critics and denying formal status to independent trade unions.

Cuba has been reprimanded 11 times by the Geneva-based Commission over the past 12 years. However, it might be able to ward off heavy criticism this year as it has secured membership of the 53-country body.

After his visit to Cuba, Michel is to travel on to Jamaica (27-28 March) and Haiti (29-31 March).

In Port-au-Prince, he will assess developments since its former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in 2004. Haiti is the poorest country in Latin America, with 80% of its population vulnerable to malnutrition and disease. EU officials say political instability and rampant corruption make it difficult to establish effective aid programmes. Michel is to discuss how the situation can be improved with EU diplomats based in Haiti.

Preview of a three-day visit on 24-26 March 2005 to Cuba of Louis Michel, the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid. The move to re-establish senior-level dialogue with Fidel Castro's regime follows an agreement by EU foreign ministers in January 2005 that a series of sanctions against the Cuban government should be temporarily lifted.

European Commission: DG Development: Countries: Cuba https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/countries/cuba_en

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