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Defend Cuban dissidents
By Liduine Zumpolle. Posted
on Mon, Nov. 08, 2004 in The
Miami Herald.
The nonviolent opposition to Fidel Castro,
Cuba's communist dictator, has fallen on
hard times. Castro's opponents who aren't
already imprisoned are under constant surveillance
and pressure. Still, they find ways to plead
for European support for democratic reform
in Cuba.
Holland recently assumed the presidency
of the European Union and must now lead
the way to that support. It would be a welcome
gesture of solidarity, particularly as some
other European nations ignore the plight
of the dissidents.
The Dutch foundation Cuba-Futuro knows
something about Castro's pressure and control.
We recently organized a trip to Cuba for
a Dutch-Spanish parliamentary commission.
Upon arriving at Havana's airport, the parliamentarians
were denied entry and forcedly returned
to their airline. The reason? In the words
of the Cuban government, we had traveled
to Cuba as tourists ''to get involved in
politics'' instead of to enjoy the beach
at our hotel.
Indeed, the parliamentarians had planned
to meet with Oswaldo Payá, leader
of the Varela Project, which garnered more
than 30,000 signatures on petitions calling
for free elections and other reforms; it
was the strongest civil rights protest in
40 years against the Castro regime.
The parliamentarians also had planned to
toss flowers into Havana's harbor to commemorate
the 10th anniversary of the death of 41
people trying to flee Cuba. The would-be
refugees had hijacked a tugboat, which the
Cuban Coast Guard attacked and sank. Those
who survived were detained and threatened
with prison sentences.
The Cuban Coast Guard ships used to attack
and sink the tug had been purchased from
a Dutch company, the Damen shipyards group.
Since the 1980s the company has been doing
business with the Castro government with
the help of export subsidies from the Dutch
government. Why should EU nations subsidize
tyranny?
That question has been resonating across
Europe since the EU recently imposed sanctions
on Burma's Castro-like military regime.
Those sanctions deny Burmese officials entry
visas to EU states and prohibit European
companies from doing business with Burma's
government for at least a year. As a result,
IHC Caland, a dredging company, will forfeit
business yielding 200 million euros.
Those profiting from trade with tyrants
like to say, ''Business is business; we're
not involved in politics.'' But business
is involved in politics. The very survival
of the Castro regime depends on European
trade, including trade with Dutch companies.
More sex tourism
Willem van't Wout of Rotterdam's Fondel
Finance is among those who voice the ''we're
not involved'' view. Fondel Finance owns
exclusive rights to export nickel from Cuba,
the world's fifth-largest producer. Another
of Castro's business partners is ING, a
financial management firm. Martinair, a
charter airline company, flies daily to
Cuba, and 13 Dutch tourist operators recently
visited Cuba with the intent of expanding
their businesses. Tourism (including sex
tourism) is the largest source of income
for Castro's brutal regime. To most Cubans,
however, the expansion of tourism means
an expansion of prostitution and the apartheid-like
humiliation of being banned from tourist-only
beaches, hotels, restaurants and clinics.
European investors haven't united to exert
their influence or win respect for international
conventions, such as labor codes, from Castro's
government. Investors quickly find that
they must accept the regime's conditions
or be expelled. It is time the European
Union supports the Cuba of tomorrow and
the island's long-suffering, isolated dissidents.
Liduine Zumpolle organized the trip by
the Spanish-Dutch parliamentary group on
behalf of Cuba-Futuro, a foundation that
seeks a democratic Cuba.
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