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Patricia Grogg,Inter Press Service. Tue Mar 25, 6:49 PM ET
HAVANA, Mar 25 (IPS) - The arrests of at least 75 anti-government activists
in Cuba could cost the government a new condemnation of its human rights record
in the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and a setback in its dialogue
with the European Union (EU) on admission to a key trade-and-aid accord.
"The detentions are an error at this time," a political analyst
who asked not to be identified told IPS. "Besides, they contradict the
government's own claim that the dissidents are not a big deal, and that they
lack popular support."
But the source, an academic, said he did not share the thesis that Cuba's
socialist government is taking advantage of the fact that all eyes are on the
United States-led war on Iraq in order to minimize the international
repercussions of the latest crackdown on internal opposition groups.
"That idea doesn't convince me," he said. "I would say it is
part of a more stable and long-term, and more questionable, policy."
The arrests began on March 18, just after the state-controlled TV station
aired two consecutive programs on the head of the U.S. Interests Section in
Havana, James Cason, and his contacts with dissident groups.
Early this month, President Fidel Castro said Cason had turned the U.S.
Interests Section, the only channel of communication between the two nations
since diplomatic relations were broken off in 1961, into "an incubator of
counter-revolutionaries."
The Castro government invariably describes Cuba's hundreds of small and tiny
dissident groups--which are illegal but generally tolerated to some extent in
recent years--as "traitors and mercenaries at the service of the empire
(the United States)."
The arrested dissidents "are accused of conspiring with the U.S.
Interests Section, but Cason has not been kicked out. I don't understand this
raid, unless it is designed to intimidate," said the analyst.
According to opposition sources, the total number of detainees had climbed
to 75 by Sunday. Their ranks include journalists and independent librarians, as
well as promoters of the Varela Project, which collected thousands of signatures
calling for political change and democracy in Cuba.
Oswaldo Payá--who was awarded the Sakharov human rights prize and is
president of the committee that carried the Varela Project forward--said the
reasons set forth by the government for the arrests are "a pretext to lash
out against the search for a peaceful transition" to democracy.
Payá mentioned to IPS his private meeting with the European Union
commissioner on development and humanitarian aid, Poul Nielson, who visited
Havana March 10-14, and urged the Cuban government to move towards democracy.
The EU is studying Cuba's petition to join the Cotonou Accord, through which
the European bloc channels assistance and trade privileges to a group of 77
states in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.
Admission by Cuba would require unanimous approval by the 15 EU members.
Payá pointed to the argument set forth by Nielson, that Cuba should
be admitted to the Cotonou Accord, in order for it to be nudged towards
improvements in democracy and human rights once it is inside.
"But I ask myself now, are these arrests a sign that (the Cuban
government) is going to respect basic freedoms?" the activist added.
Opposition sources told IPS that this week ambassadors of EU countries
accredited in Havana would assess the situation generated by the arrests and the
eventual repercussions on the bloc's decision with respect to Cotonou.
"Some countries are reluctant to vote in favor of Cuba's admission to
the agreement, which specifically calls for respect for human rights," said
Manuel Cuesta, the secretary-general of the Democratic Socialist Current, one of
the better-known dissident groups.
Cuesta did not rule out the possibility that Havana was trying to use the
war on Iraq as a "smokescreen" for its round-up of dissidents, but he
saw the sweep as part of a government strategy to discredit its chief
ideological adversary--the United States--in the eyes of Cubans.
"The message it is trying to send is that the very country that is
waging war is the same one that is pushing for respect for human rights in Cuba.
Since there is strong anti-Bush (U.S. President George W. Bush sentiment here,
that is an element that has an influence on public opinion," he said.
The activist lamented that "with one stroke of the pen,"
opposition groups had lost ground that had been gained "with great effort"
in the past few years. "This is a setback that will take a lot of work to
recover from," he said.
Cuba's internal opposition movement is mobilizing around three "complementary"
initiatives, which share the common objective of pressing for peaceful
democratic change, according to activists.
While the Varela Project is seeking a public referendum on changes to the
socialist system, the Assembly to Promote Civil Society, headed by Marta Beatriz
Roque--one of those arrested in last week's sweep--is working to broaden the
opposition movement.
Cuesta, meanwhile, forms part of the Moderate Opposition's Round-Table on
Reflection, which is currently putting the final touches to a "charter on
human rights" on which more than 30,000 people in Cuba were surveyed.
The idea is to deliver the charter to the UN Commission on Human Rights,
which began its annual meetings last week, and to other international bodies.
Latin American diplomats in Havana, whose countries are sitting on the
Commission, said it is unlikely that the government offensive against dissident
groups will be overlooked.
According to reports out of Geneva, where the Commission is meeting, at
least three Latin American countries may sponsor a new resolution condemning
Cuba's human rights record.
A motion approved by the Commission last year called for the designation of
a personal representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to carry
out a fact-finding mission in Cuba. But that proposal was rejected by Havana,
which refused to authorize the visit.
The Commission has passed resolutions against Havana every year since 1990,
with the exception of 1998. Last year, the initiative was sponsored for the
first time by Latin American nations.
The Cuban government complains that Washington uses the human rights
question for political purposes, and that it is the real author of every
resolution against Havana, regardless of the country that officially introduces
it. | 
