EU-Cuba Negotiations Impacted by Cuba-USA Rapprochement
HAVANA TIMES — The restoration of relations between Cuba and the United States “changes the context” for conducting talks between Europe and the island to reach a bilateral political dialogue, said Christian Leffler, European External Action Service managing director for the Americas.
“A more active and open US presence can help strengthen the positive environment in our discussions,” noted Leffler, who was the chief EU negotiator in the talks with Cuba, which took place Wednesday and Thursday in Havana.
“US policy has moved a little closer to European policy, one of engagement and support to internal processes in Cuba,” Leffler said at the end of the third round of bilateral meetings.
Leffler added that the goal of the European community partners is to advance a “concrete, constructive and honest dialog, to identify areas of political and economic cooperation.”
He told the press he sees as positive the decision by US President Barack Obama last December 17 to seek rapprochement with Cuba and assessed the new scenario as “changing a policy of confrontation to one of dialogue and involvement.”
The European delegation does not believe the Cuba-US rapprochement will hurt its relations with the island because its links with Cuba go back “decades with an economic presence and cooperation strong enough to maintain itself and further develop.”
Human rights, one of the most sensitive issues in the negotiations, “was deeply discussed,” but without reaching any concrete agreements, leaving the “finding of solutions” for future meetings. The European diplomat noted that on this topic the EU doesn’t want to “impose a model” on Cuba.
Traditionally the European Union includes in its cooperation agreements clauses relating to human rights, whereby the event of non-compliance can lead to the suspension of the agreements signed.
Before the start of negotiations with Cuba, the EU agreed to unlink its “common position” with preconditions, to further progress in the talks.
Since 1996, the EU applies on Cuba the “common position” that links bilateral relations to the situation of human rights on the island.
The European bloc adopted its “common position,” at the insistence of Spain, following the arrest of 75 Cuban dissidents in 2003, who have now been released.
Currently Cuba is the only Latin American country that lacks a comprehensive agreement on political dialogue with the EU. Nonetheless, bilateral agreements exist with 15 of the 28 countries that form the European bloc.
The two-day talks held behind closed doors at the headquarters of the Cuban Foreign Ministry were led by Leffler representing Europe and Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Abelardo Moreno.
The next round between the two delegations will take place in Brussels later this Spring, although exact dates are still pending.
hahahahaha they are either lying or are dillusional!!!!
I guess Circles (editor of this site), expats and exiled Cuban civilians, Military and government defectors, and myself, are all lying.
Go tell it to Osawaldo Paya’s family. …oh wait, the regime killed him!
Cuba’s so-called “no party elections” are controlled by the one legal party in Cuba, the Communist Party.
So when you say you would prefer “no party” elections wherever it is you live (obviously not in Cuba), …what you really mean is a system in which your preferred party, the Communist Party, controls everything.
That’s not democracy and the voting which occurs does not make it an election. It’s single party rule, a dictatorship, as in Cuba where 2 brothers have ruled the country for 56 years. Recall that Fidel Castro promised multi-party elections while he was fighting against Batista. After gaining power, several times during 1959 he again promised free and democratic multi-party elections “next year”. Yet when the next year came, the elections were cancelled and political parties other than the Communist Party were banned.
In democracy, every adult citizen gets to vote for the candidates, parties and policies they prefer. The resulting governments thus formed are compromises of the various interest groups and parties. Nobody gets everything they want, and nobody is completely neglected. Governments change regularly as the political winds shift directions. It’s a messy and imperfect system, but it is still far better than all the other systems.
I have noticed that among Leftists, there is a common misunderstanding of what democracy means. Leftists believe it should mean their policies and only their policies win everything. Anything less than that, any compromise with other points of view, is a failure of democracy. That’s why Leftists insist the only “true democracy” is a dictatorship which enforces their ideology on everybody.
I’m not sure if that misunderstanding is dues to a lack of education or if it is a psychological defect. I suspect the latter. Either way, it’s a good reason never to trust a Leftist and their utopian delusions which lead inevitably to the Gulag and the Killing Fields.
Here is a real Cuban writing about her opinion of the fraudulent elections in Cuba:
http://translatingcuba.com/by-a-secret-and-direct-ballot-yoani-sanchez/
It isn’t true. I have many friends inside Cuba (real Cubans) and while they admit their are problems, its nothing near to what the USA media puts out!!! That travel site was spot on on the government in Cuba and very detailed.
Well that explains it. Your getting your information from a Cuban travel site out of British Colombia. I on the other hand experienced the reality…..I’m Cuban. So don’t presume to tell me what is and isn’t true.
I prefer no party elections like they have in Cuba! We know the USA wants the Cubans to have multiparty so they can bankroll who they want in power as has been the case in Latin America throughout history!!!! Now I’m not saying that the Cuban system is perfect but that’s for them to decide and no one outside Cuba has the right to tell them how to rum their country. Cuban exiles don’t have that right either!! The Cuban system has been evolving since 1959 and it will continue to evolve but it will do so without foreign interference. The Cuban Revolution has beat the odds and it has a lot of achievements to point to. Cuba will change (evolve) with time, but it will do it on its own accord and without diminishing all that it has fought to achieve!!!
Not true: I suggest you look at this site to understand them better.
http://www.cubatreks.com/political_system.php
“school children are the ones who collect the vote?” …LOL
You gotta be kidding me! Who believes that sort of drivel? We’re not talking about perfection, were talking outright sham! …take it from this Cuban, their electoral system is a fraud designed to keep the castor’s in power…and every Cuban knows it!
You don’t have to take my word for it. Let’s get Circles Robinson’s (editor and publisher of Havanatimes.com) take on it. I assume you would consider him an impartial observer of Cuban society?
…Cicles wrote back in 2013…
ON CUBAN ELECTIONS: “Here’s the punch line: For 612 seats in the National Assembly of People’s Power there are 612 preselected candidates. For the different Provincial Assemblies of People Power there are a total of 1,269 candidates for 1,269 seats”
ON THE CUBAN PARLIAMENT: “Since virtually all decisions are made as executive orders by the Council of Ministers, the parliament is relegated to rubber stamping decisions already made and sometimes already implemented.”
“Virtually all votes are unanimous and any debates among the members are held behind closed doors. Even an abstention is highly rare. This is to say 612 deputies routinely agree with every executive order passed by the Council of Ministers”
You can check it out at: http://circlesonline.blogspot.com
If what you believe is true, then why do the Castros fear multiparty elections? Is it just a coincidence that all parliamentary votes are unanimous? Do you know any Cubans? What are the chances that 600 Cubans in the same room can agree on the time of day, let alone political matters. You are either naïve or blind…or both!
Yes Really!!!! And Remember Cuba has been in transition since the beginning of the Revolution.
You can’t seriously believe that Cuba’s ‘electoral’ process is real. Are you suggesting that the Castros have been in charge for 56 years by the choice of the Cuban voter and not by force? Really?
MY Dear Humberto,
You do know that that survey has been dismissed as invalid propaganda. Some context is in order. The U.S. government financed the poll. And it
is in the U.S. government’s interest to paint the Cuban government in
the worst light possible. That helps build support for American
government policies aimed at undermining the socialist government. As a matter of fact the IRI is a subcontractor for USAID. Im sure you are aware of their illegal activiites in Cuba. heres the link:
http://alongthemalecon.blogspot.com/2012/06/iris-cuba-poll-made-in-usa.html
The same allegations can be made about the corporate bought government in the United States. . Its not a dictatorship in Cuba and you know that very well. After Raul resigns, you will not have that excuse. Remember its the National Assembly elected by the Cuban people where school children are the ones who collect the votes, that elect the Council of State in Cuba. You can dismiss it as much as you want but that’s the reality. Now is it perfect? No government is!
Comprehensive? It’s a dictatorship. Look the word up. After Fidel AND Raul retire/die the result will likely be a government run by a mix of Raul’s son and son-in-law. The puppet President will take his or her marching orders from the surviving Castro family members. So yes, I will continue to refer to the regime as the “Castros”.
Hey Dude! Stop trying to censor people! Hate to tell you dear but the Cuban people are not that crazy about the Castro “government”!
THE INTERNATINAL REPUBLICAN INSTITUTE (IRI) : Cuban Public Opinion Survey – A total of 463 Cuban adults between the ages of 18 to 60 years were surveyed to cuestionárseles on various topics ranging from economics, democracy, freedoms and use of technology.
In the investigation conducted by the International Republican Institute (IRI), 78.2% of respondents would vote for a change of political system a democratic system and political pluralism, freedom of choice, voting and free speech if given the chance.
Among other data for 60.7% of Cubans surveyed said the biggest problem in Cuba is the low wages and high cost of living, while 77.0% said that the current government can not solve the country’s problems in the coming years.
Also 90.7% said that if they had the opportunity to vote for a change in the economic system that allows them to create companies, owning property in a free market.
On the use of technology, 72.6% do not have Internet access compared with 5.0% who said yes to access. While 25.3% said the mobile phone access, but what a great majority, ie 74.7%, said they had no access to cell
http://www.iri.org/sites/default/files/2011%20April%20Cuba%20Poll%20Final%20Survey%20Slide%20Presentation.pdf
Dude seriously! get lost! After Raul retires; Are you still gonna say Castro this and Castro that! You know Cuba is not a one man show. They have a comprehensive government in which the population participates and you know that!!!
Here’s the bottom line: The Castros wish to have full access to European markets and European banking (read credit) services while continuing to be able to deny freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and freedom of speech to the Cuba people. The EU would like open trade with Cuba but wants to avoid the embarrassment of doing business with unabashed tyrants. Resolving this issue is no small matter. The Castros have been clear about not budging on what they consider necessary controls to maintain their vise grip on the Cuban people. The EU, with a burgeoning progressive movement willing to give Cuba a pass, is more likely to capitulate to Cuban demands than the other way around.