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Cuba
Rejects EU Call for Dialogue
Yahoo! News. By Will Weissert,
Associated Press Writer, June 22, 2007.
Cuba Says It Won't Negotiate
With EU Until It Drops Sanctions
HAVANA (AP) -- Cuba on Friday bluntly rejected
the European Union's calls for negotiations
to warm relations with the communist-run
island, saying Havana won't talk until the
EU totally scraps sanctions it imposed on
this country in 2003.
The Foreign Ministry seemed to suggest
that the EU's calls for an "open and
integral political dialogue" were a
step in the right direction, but made clear
that they were not enough.
"If the European Union wants some
kind of dialogue with Cuba, it should definitively
eliminate sanctions, which have since been
shown to be inapplicable and unsustainable,"
the ministry said in a statement.
The EU reached out to Cuba on Monday, inviting
top officials to Brussels for negotiations
on the condition that they discuss improving
human rights practices on the island. The
invitation is part of the EU's drive to
improve relations with Cuba, and it said
the temporary transfer of power from Fidel
Castro to his brother Raul -- the first
change of power in 48 years -- constituted
a "new situation."
The EU imposed diplomatic sanctions on
Cuba in 2003 after authorities here detained
75 dissidents accused of working with the
United States to undermine the government.
Cuban authorities released 16 for medical
reasons, and in January 2005, the EU suspended
the measures, restoring diplomatic relations
and ending its ban on talks with Cuban officials.
But it also asked Havana to release political
prisoners and grant freedom of expression
and information to its citizens, and said
it would continue supporting dissidents.
The Foreign Ministry did not mention human
rights specifically, but said the EU's invitation
for dialogue "meddles, in a slanderous
way, in strictly internal Cuban affairs,
making judgments and announcing unjust and
hypocritical acts that Cuba considers offensive
and unacceptable and rejects completely."
"We do not recognize the moral authority
of the European Union to judge or advise
Cuba," it said, adding that the island
is "an independent and sovereign country"
that deserves treatment as an equal.
Spain, which enraged Cuba with its staunch
early support of the U.S.-led war in Iraq,
now leads efforts to improve relations with
Havana, while countries including Britain,
the Czech Republic, Poland and Sweden have
been more guarded.
The EU is adamant that if the Cuba accepts
the invitation for talks, it must also agree
to discuss human rights, political prisoners
and moves toward democracy.
Many governments and rights organizations
around the world accuse Cuba of violating
liberties by jailing critics and limiting
speech, Internet access, travel and media
freedoms.
The Cuban government claims it respects
human rights more than most nations by offering
a wide social safety net that includes free
health care and education and heavily subsidized
food. Havana dismisses outspoken critics
and dissidents as U.S. "mercenaries."
The Foreign Ministry's statement noted
that "an influential group of European
nations have made efforts" to improve
Cuban-EU relations, but also accused the
union in general and the Czech Republic
specifically, of pandering to Washington:
"The European Union has shown it is
persistently and humiliatingly subordinate
to the United States."
"It is up to the European Union to
make up for the mistakes committed with
Cuba," the statement concluded. "But
there's no hurry: we have all the time in
the world."
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