By Hisane Masaki, Staff writer.
The Japan Times. Wednesday, February
21, 2001
After decades of estrangement, Japan and Cuba in recent years have warmed to
each other through visits by high-level political figures. But it likely will
take much longer for the sunny disposition to shine on the economic landscape.
According to government sources, Felipe Ramon Perez, Cuba's foreign minister
and a close aid to President Fidel Castro, plans to make an official visit to
Japan early next month to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral relations,
especially economic ties.
The sources said that the 35-year-old Perez plans to make the visit for four
days, starting on March 3, for talks with his Japanese counterpart, Yohei Kono,
and other political and business leaders.
It will be the first official visit to Japan by a Cuban foreign minister in
nearly two years. In February 1999, his immediate predecessor, Roberto Robaina,
became the first Cuban Cabinet minister to make an official visit to Tokyo.
Perez's trip follows landmark official visits by two top Cuban leaders last
autumn. Vice President Carlos Lage became the highest-ranking Cuban official
ever to make an official visit to Tokyo in October, and Racardo Alarcon, the
head of the national assembly, also visited Tokyo in November at the invitation
of the Japanese Diet.
Both Lage and Alarcon, along with Defense Minister Raul Castro, a brother of
President Castro, are widely considered among the likely candidates to succeed
the aging ruler. Castro is now 74.
But Perez will not be able to get what Cuba probably wants most during his
visit: an unfettered, full-scale flow of Japanese official development
assistance money into the Caribbean country.
Japan has retained its status as the world's largest single aid donor for
nine consecutive years. Japanese ODA consists of low-interest yen loans,
grants-in-aid and technical cooperation.
Japan's ODA for Cuba has been limited to relatively small amounts of
grants-in-aid and technical cooperation. No official yen loans have ever been
extended. Japan extended 1 billion yen in grants-in-aid to Cuba in November 1998
to help the country purchase food and other supplies for drought victims. It was
the first full-scale provision of Japanese ODA to Cuba, even for humanitarian
purposes.
To be sure, politics have been an important factor in the strictly limited
flow of Japanese ODA money to Cuba.
During the Cold War, Tokyo strongly felt it impossible to risk drawing the
ire of the United States, Japan's most important ally, by giving ODA money to
Havana. During the Cold War, Cuba was the Soviet Union's close ally, and the
U.S. saw the Caribbean country as a national security threat.
Japan, like the U.S. and Europe, also believes that Cuba should still do
much more to improve the protection of human rights and democratic principles
before it can expect a smooth inflow of Japanese ODA money.
But perhaps more importantly, deep concerns about Havana's ability to repay
debts have made Tokyo reluctant about extending ODA.
Cuba's debts owed to foreign governments and private-companies are estimated
at $11 billion, roughly half of which is said to be owed to Russia. Japan is
Cuba's second-largest creditor, lending an estimated $1 billion and $1.5 billion
in both official and private-sector loans.
In March 1998, a group of Japanese private-sector creditors reached an
agreement with the Cuban government on rescheduling the country's arrears.
In January 2000, Tokyo and Havana reached a final agreement on rescheduling
Cuba's short-term official debts owed to the Japanese government. In the
following month, Japan resumed its application of a state-run trade and
investment insurance scheme for domestic companies doing business with Cuba,
although the insurance coverage is still limited to short-term business deals.
Before Japan can extend the insurance coverage to medium- and long-term
deals and also provide yen loans, Cuba will probably have to get an agreement
from the so-called Paris Club of creditor governments, including Japan's, on
rescheduling its medium- and long-term official debts.
The Paris Club was expected to convene early this year to discuss the Cuban
debt issue but has yet to do so, due to a spat between Havana and Moscow, the
sources said.
Russia, which itself has to repay its huge Soviet-era debts to the Paris
Club, is demanding that the Soviet-era debts Havana owes to Moscow be put on the
Paris Club's negotiating table. But Havana rejects the Russian demand, the
sources said.
With the prospect of an early settlement of the Cuban debt issue becoming
increasingly gloomier, talks between Perez and Japanese officials early next
month are expected to focus on cooperation in providing technical aid to third
countries, instead of Japanese ODA for the development of Cuba itself.
During his Japan visit, Tokyo and Havana will agree to inaugurate
cooperation in providing technical assistance to other developing countries,
especially Cuba's Caribbean neighbors, according to the government sources.
As the first specific project under the so-called triangular cooperation
between Japan, Cuba and third countries, Tokyo plans to provide grants-in-aid
and technical cooperation to support Cuba's medical assistance efforts in remote
areas of neighboring island countries, the sources said.
The Japan Times: Feb. 21, 2001. (C) All rights reserved
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