Pouring oil on troubled Cuban waters

Date: 03/04/1997

TWO AMERICAN congressmen are not likely to be forgotten soon in Europe. Republican Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina and Republican Representative Dan Burton of Indiana have aroused some of the angriest sentiments directed at the North American continent from across the Atlantic since 1776.

But Helms and Burton have not yet sunk the transatlantic friendship, and their legacy may not cause any permanent damage to EU-US ties.

In the US, the demonisers' target has already moved from Union headquarters to the World Trade Organisation, where the Helms-Burton Act is now on trial. And as for the EU, well, Europeans have always known that American administrations are bossy and insensitive, and they are resigned to living with it.

“We have always had difficult relations with Americans who show no understanding of our problems,” said a Union official, citing years of trade disputes, including the 'chicken war' of the early 1980s when the two sides fought over the water content in frozen poultry.

However, Helms-Burton has been an unusual strain, even for those accustomed to such skirmishes.

One EU official used as a gauge the fact that even the UK had joined its European partners in opposing Wash-ington's action.

“Even those countries which normally underline friendship with the US and what the Americans have done for us are frustrated,” he said.

Both sides have been trying hard to limit any fall-out from the dispute while still standing up for their policies.

“We cannot accept that legislation, but from our side there is no wish to make this point of irritation any bigger than it is,” said a Dutch diplomat.

President Clinton, more or less forced into accepting the law passed by Congress last year, quickly gave in to European demands as far as he could.

However, the president cannot dismantle a law and Clinton's action, while appreciated by the Union, did not satisfy its demands.

Members of Congress resent Clinton for “giving away the store” and are annoyed at the EU for pursuing the WTO case after the president's generous gesture. “This is a bogus political case brought by Europe,” said Cuban-born Florida Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart.

Nonetheless, Trade Commissioner Sir Leon Brittan is diligently pursuing an agreement with the Clinton Administration to try to avoid the need for arbitration.

“Both sides are trying to avoid confrontation,” said an EU official, “but the test is not yet over”.

The worst, in fact, may yet be to come.

If Brittan cannot reach a settlement with the US, the WTO panel's findings could have lasting repercussions.

If the panel accepts Washington's argument that Helms-Burton is a national security measure and not just a law extending the American trade embargo against Cuba to other nations, Union officials fear the US will consider itself immune to international rules.

But if the panel rules that the US may not extend its legislation beyond its territory, the American reaction will be severe.

“You will see significant support in the US Congress for withdrawal from the WTO,” said Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

“Helms-Burton was overwhelmingly passed by the US Congress. It will be defended by the US Congress. There will be no result to the European challenge except to whither support for a multilateral organisation.”