|
anterior
Aid from the Catholic Church: Caritas
Caritas' humanitarian aid entails in particular food, clothing and medicine. In five years' time
Caritas has brought over 22 million dollars worth of humanitarian aid to Cuba. Their task is not an
easy one. The Cuban government sees the Church as a body that should restrict itself to reading
Mass. All sorts of other services the Church provides, such as aiding the poor and distributing
medicine and food, are essentially matters of the state. But the state lacks these goods and
therefore donations are welcome. But from the moment the donations arrive, the state wants control
over the distribution.
Furthermore, the Cuban government greatly fears that the American government will use the Church
to help 'enemies of the Cuban Revolution', an idea that originates from the American Republicans.
The Church rejected the proposal made early 1998 that it could serve as a distribution channel for
the American humanitarian aid. This reaction of Caritas can probably be explained by their fear to
be seen as a kind of Trojan horse. They fear politicization of the aid. The Protestant churches,
united in the 'Consejo de Iglesias de Cuba' (the Cuban Council of Churches), have explicitly
expressed a negative opinion in the party newspaper Granma on the subject of Clinton's new
proposals.
On the other hand, the Catholic Church does not want to hand over the distribution of existing
Caritas-aid to the Cuban authorities. "That would be a break with the Church's style, that
prefers direct contact with the people", bishop Aranguren says. The Church has an interest of
its own here: to solidify its place in Cuban society. It wants to take upon itself tasks that
provide help to the population, ranging from the distribution of food to finding housing
accommodation, money, employment or arranging visas. In some cases it is even concerned with water
supply in villages or other forms of developmental aid.
In short: the Church and the state both want to be a free agent. In between these two
positions move negotiations concerning humanitarian aid. A problem is posed by the fact that
Cuban law does not provide a legal framework within which organizations such as Caritas can operate.
The boundaries within which they have to work are set ad hoc. Another problem is the shortage of
funding as a result of which the Church cannot afford to open up their own stores, pharmacies or
distributive networks, provided they would be permitted to do so in the first place. This of course
does not strengthen the Church's negotiating position.
The only way to still be able to operate is a compromise: cooperation with the Cuban state. To
be able to operate Caritas is forced to hand over the distribution of large percentages of the goods
to the state. Insiders speak of 40 to 60 percent, both food and medicine. Obviously, this is not to
the Church's satisfaction, but it is considered an inevitable price. Under protest, an employee
sighs: 'Even aid is bound by regulations'.
The Church partly surrenders control over the use of the goods. As long as the goods do reach
the Cuban population, this is of little importance, but this is not always the case. A source within
the Catholic Church confirmed that donated goods turned up in the 'diplotienda' in Calle 70, a huge
supermarket in the western part of Havana. The goods had been labeled differently, but could be
identified by the imprint 'not intended for sale'. In particular powdered milk was mentioned.
Employees of another relief organization spotted liquid soap in a store in the center of Havana,
labeled 'donation'. Many more examples are available.
Aside from the help provided by Caritas, many parishes are engaged in humanitarian aid of their
own, that is obtained through private channels, donations and initiatives of active laymen in the
parish. For instance, one of the parishes in Havana provides 120 to 150 meals for the elderly in the
district on a daily basis. The food is purchased and prepared by the Church. The authorities
allow the Church to buy the food at a price reduced by 50%; so far this is unparalleled in Cuba.
Usually parishes have to purchase food from the state at the regular prices. The project started
a couple of weeks before the papal visit and was stepped up in January of this year. In addition,
the Church provides medicine. All of these come from direct foreign donations to the Church.
European Humanitarian Aid: Echo
The European Union's aid program to Cuba was initiated six years ago. It started in March of
1993 as emergency relief after the hurricane 'Tormenta del Siglo', the Storm of the Century. The
total value of the food, medicine and clothing amounts to 65 million Euro (13 million guilders). As
this is emergency relief, the sum decreases every year. Last year it amounted to a small 10 million
Euro, 22 million guilders, including an extra donation in relation to the consequences of the
hurricane George. The program is now gradually being reduced.
At the Echo headquarters in Brussels the Cuban government's silence with respect to the fact
that the aid largely supports Cuban health care, the showpiece of 'the Revolution', causes
annoyance.
Echo's funds support fifteen European relief organizations, which bear the responsibility for
purchase, shipping and supervision of the goods. Their offices are spread over Cuba, and this way
they oversee the arrival of goods in all of those places.
The exact use of the goods is determined in consultation with Echo and the Department of Health
MINSAP, which under supervision of the NGOs is responsible for the distribution.
When a ship carrying relief goods arrives in the harbor (approximately once a month), Echo
employees stand by. They do not have access to the harbor premises and therefore have to wait until
the containers are moved to depositories. This can take a while. Sporadically, a container is 'lost'
on the premises for months, but in most cases it does turn up eventually. After opening the
container the contents are checked by means of a packlist, after which the goods are transferred to
trucks of the 'Empresa de Servicios para la Colaboración' of the department.
Echo employees say that a percentage is deducted for the national 'reserva militar de
emergencia', a sort of emergency relief reserve. The rest is transported to the agreed location,
where employees of the NGO that operates in that region are present. The advantage of this formula,
employees say, is that Echo does not presume to want to control the distribution. They allow the
goods to be controlled 100 % by the Cuban government and then check whether the goods arrive at
their destination. Naturally, sometimes harbor or transport employees steal some of the goods, but
supposedly not in great quantities.
One of the 15 European NGOs active in Cuba is the Spanish 'Nuevo Futuro'. They specialize in
linen for hospitals. Unlike most organizations, they have an office in Havana; therefore they
oversee the arrival of goods of other organizations in the harbor. Another Spanish organization in
Havana is concerned mostly with medicine. The donation of medicine is increasingly being replaced by
the supply of insulin, because in Cuba there is sufficient skill and knowledge to convert this
material into medicine. This enables Echo to provide more aid at lower cost.
"Now this is the limit", Lucia says and she holds up a can of fish. "Do you know
where this comes from? From Chile! And do you know how many kilometers of shoreline Cuba has? Can
you imagine Cuba importing fish from Chile?" She cannot get over it. Just now she went to the
dollar store to buy things that can no longer be purchased with pesos: spaghetti, oil, vinegar,
toilet paper, soap and detergent. And fish from Chile. Chile has in the past year become the number
one supplier of fish to Cuba, both for the tourists and the Cubans. In the past Cuba had a healthy
fishing fleet, but it fell into such a decline that now foreign companies provide the supply of
fish.
Foreign investors
The numbers of investors in Cuba has again increased, in spite of the restrictions that the
United States impose on the rest of the world. According to European embassies in Havana the
interest in Cuba among European investors increases, in particular in the tourist industry,
construction, and real estate. Commerce is doing even better. In Cuba at present there are
approximately 350 joint ventures with foreign companies, mainly from Canada, Spain, Italy and
Mexico. Dutch investors are active also. By now approximately fifty stay in Cuba permanently. The
Dutch embassy believes that for the most part only those companies invest in Cuba that have no
interests in the United States, to avoid risks.
The American president Bill Clinton froze the third paragraph of the Helms Burton act once more
for the period of six months. That means that the act has no consequences for European companies.
The Helms Burton act allows American companies to sue foreign businesses when they make use of real
estate in Cuba that before the Revolution belonged to that American company.
American experts claim that the increase of foreign businesses in Cuba can have considerable
consequences with respect to Cuban labor relations, in particular the relation between the Cuban and
his employer. Previously, everyone was employed by the state, a situation that is now unlikely to
persist.
Hiring and payment of employees
Cuba wants to attract foreign investments, but at the same time prevent distortion of the income
relations within the country. Namely, there is a danger that employees in the private sector will
earn many times more than the Cuban employed by the state. To prevent this, two control measures
have been set up. The first measure is selection of personnel, the second is payment.
Foreign employers are prohibited to take on personnel on their own initiative. They can hire
personnel through special agencies, such as Cubalse and Acorec, those for their part select people
who qualify to work in the dollar sector, i.e. foreign companies. In general these people are
selected on the basis of their loyalty to the party, not capacity. This is a violation of the ILO
convention 111 (the right to non-discrimination in appointment). Payment takes place through these
employment agencies. The foreign employer pays the coveted dollars to the agency, which in turn pays
the employee in Cuban pesos. The discrepancy between the amount that the company pays the agency and
the sum the employee receives from the agency may amount to fortyfold. This construction is in
contravention of international agreements, in particular the ILO convention 95, that states that
employees should have free disposal of their salary. In addition, ILO convention NR. 87 (freedom of
association and right to organize) and convention NR. 98 (right to organize and collective
negotiations) are systematically violated.
Since they have to cooperate closely with the Cuban State through joint ventures, foreign
investors can be held co-responsible for the systematic violation of labor law, especially as they
accept these violations or profit from them.
The Cuban government is not pleased with the criticism because it is directed at the foreign
companies whose influx of dollars has become the mainstay of the regime. In this respect the foreign
investors and the Cuban State share the same interests. Still, the Cuban government is suspected to
indeed be anxious as to the current construction, or at least anxious as to the criticism. One
European company is said to experiment with direct payment of the employees, the government then
receives the surplus through extra taxes. This construction would honor the international
agreements, although the actual increase of the employee's income remains questionable.
Extra Stimulus
The Cuban government is wary of the practice of giving employees bonuses. This after all would
give them an advantage over others who are not employed by foreign companies. Still, in many cases
boons, or 'incentives' as they are called in business terms, are allowed. For instance, sometimes
employees receive an extra payment in dollars, and merely a few dollars may lead to a doubling of
income.
A new, institutionalized form of such inducements is the 'jaba'. Many companies currently on a
monthly or quarterly basis provide their employees with a basket containing products that are
unobtainable in stores, or at usurious prices. Soap, eau de cologne, shampoo, detergent and
deodorant are some of the most favorite items in the monthly Christmas box. With a bit of luck the
happy one will find spaghetti or salad oil among the gifts. In general these slices of fortune are
available only to employees of companies that generate dollars somehow or other, such as hotels,
taxi bases and export companies. The 'jaba' caters for needs that many families can no longer afford
on their peso income. In addition it might be intended to push back theft.
The situation with respect to incidental, unofficial bonuses is more complicated. An employer
related that several years ago at the construction of a building he wanted to give boots to the
bricklayers, who as a result of bad footwear had to stand in the cement practically all day. In
order to do this, he had to make a petition to the authorities, that then rejected this plan. To
what extent this is an incident is hard to determine, but the impression that Cuba is often a
looking-glass world is confirmed. In stead of protecting employees against 'exploitation' by
employers, the government obstructs employers' initiatives to improve working conditions.
The subject of 'incentives' is a constant point of negotiations between the foreign employers
and the authorities. The companies do not always wait for the state to give its permission though.
Different embassies know of "institutions" that slip their employees extra money or goods
as incentive without the authorities' knowledge. A foreign scholar who has been studying the
phenomenon for years assumes a large-scale occurrence of this.
Code of Conduct
The present situation solicits a lot of criticism on the part of international human rights
organizations and labor unions, which plead for a code of conduct. The most noted proposal in that
direction is the Arcos-principles. The American organization North American Committee drew up
guidelines in addition to the Arcos-principles. These guidelines were also supported by participants
in a round table conference in the European Parliament, convened by Pax Christi Netherlands on
December 3rd 1998. They deal with circumstances and safety on the shopfloor, avoiding child labor
and forced labor, direct recruitment and payment of personnel, the right to free organization in the
workplace, separation of operational management and politics, and encouraging the Cuban government
to respect human rights.
To get companies to accept such a code of conduct is not a simple matter. They make investments
in Cuba for the same reasons they do so in Singapore or the Philippines: not for reasons of labor
law, but because of the well trained and cheap labor force, the prohibition of strikes, and the
absence of effective labor unions. Furthermore, a company's primary obligation is to abide by the
laws of the country where they invest. Therefore, when respect for human rights equals a violation
of the law, a serious code of conduct would present the company with the choice to either violate
human rights or leave the country.
In the case of substantial investments, the companies' policy will be directed at postponing a
code of conduct for as long as possible. Or, when they are unable get round such a code in any way,
try to keep the code's content in hand as much as possible. It is to be expected that when one
company accepts a code of conduct, others might follow. Analysts say that, considering the size of
the investments, the only companies in a position to take such a risk, are Canadian and Spanish
companies. For human rights organizations, the only course towards forcing a code of conduct, is
keep engaged in dialogue with the companies and mobilize public opinion in their home countries.
According to the Dutch embassy in Cuba foreign businesses will eventually not be able to get
round a code of conduct. They are forced to embark on joint ventures with the Cuban State and the
success of these in part depends on motivated personnel. The current salaries make this practically
impossible. The dollarization makes people needy and forces them to hold all sorts of jobs on the
side and some steal from their employers: two matters that do not benefit working conditions at the
company. Dutch businessmen in Cuba say that a code of conduct is indeed a topic of discussion, but
that it is doubted whether one will ever be implemented. ILO and other international guidelines are
at odds with the national Cuban legislation with respect to investments. If companies would have to
abide by international laws, under present conditions they would be forced to leave Cuba.
The target should now be to get companies to collectively convince the Cuban government to
observe international regulations, in particular the direct appointment (in stead of through the
government) and payment of Cuban employees. As long as foreign companies do not take a stand to
force the authorities to respect international labor law in Cuba also, the regime will continue to
successfully maintain its divide and rule-politics in these circles also.
Unexpected support for European initiatives to draw up a code of conduct came halfway through
January 1999 from the American president Bill Clinton: "While we do not encourage investment in
Cuba, we welcome efforts to seek the agreement of those who do invest to provide Cuban workers with
decent pay, the right to organize, and safe working conditions. Major European non-governmental
organizations have undertaken to develop an international working group to pursue this important
initiative further."
The Independent Organizations
In general the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Cuba can be divided into two groups: the
illegal and the legal. The first category is the non-recognized independent movement. This sector is
made up of groups that as a result of repression have to operate behind closed doors and hardly get
a chance to expand. Many of such groups attempt to acquire legal status by making a plea to the law
though. Such officials pleas are never answered. At the same time the government frequently accuses
them of collaboration with the enemy, the U.S.
The most recent inventory, apparently highly complete, was drawn up by the (dissident) Cuban
Christian Democratic Party PDC in March of 1998 and lists 380 dissident groups. This includes human
rights groups, labor unions, confederations of farmers, and also professional groups of lawyers,
journalists, educators and doctors and even soup kitchens and libraries. Political parties have also
been included. Independent journalists in Cuba claim that most of these organizations on the list do
not comprise of more than one of two people that often are no longer active.
The estimated number of independent organizations of any real import by virtue of membership
or activities, is several dozens. That includes the more 'traditional' human rights
organizations and political movements and parties. However, increasing in significance are
professional groups such as those of independent economists, educators and doctors. According to
Cuban journalists there are instances of people who want to leave the country and, to avoid costly
and lengthy procedures, pose as leader of an independent dissident organization. Through publicity
in foreign countries they attempt to be exiled from Cuba and to obtain political asylum abroad. This
saves the hundreds of dollars it costs to leave Cuba in the 'regular' manner.
The second category is made up of the officially recognized NGOs -those that possess legal
individuality - that are generally larger. The government strictly supervises them and a number of
them receive funds from abroad. To obtain a legal status and be officially recognized as NGO they
have to be supervised by the government. This cannot be carried too far, because that would
jeopardize foreign resources, since foreign countries would then consider those NGOs as a
moneyspinner created by the government. The suspicion exists that this does occur and that the Cuban
government, by founding new NGOs with fictitious independence, has discovered a new 'charimarket'.
In this category the boundaries separating governmental and non-governmental organizations
cannot always be clearly determined. It is evident that the Communist Party, i.e. the government,
controls the Cuban labor union federation CTC. This is more difficult to ascertain in the case of
the National Confederation of Small Farmers ANAP that, although close to official policy, implements
projects throughout the country independently and for this purpose receives considerable foreign
funding. An example of the confusion to which the obscurity of status can lead to is the
presentation of the Cuban Federation of Women FMC at the International Women's Conference in
Beijing. There, to the utter dismay of other NGOs, they turned out to take part in both the official
and the alternative conference.
The situation has obscured particularly during the nineties. The traditional 'mass
organizations' such as CTC, the women's organization FMC and the youth organization UJC were joined
by smaller groups that developed activities of their own. According to data from the Department of
Justice this involves several thousands of recognized foundations, sports clubs, scientific
associations, and so on.
Sociologists within and outside of Cuba consider the NGOs an important material for a future
democratic society. The transition to a multi-party system alone is not sufficient. A democratic
climate has to be established. This culture of tolerance, consultation and participation by the
population has already begun in Cuba and takes place within the civil society and within the Church.
For the time being the NGOs are faced with the problem that the Cuban law does not provide a legal
framework in which they can operate.
The Independent Press
Certain non-governmental organizations are by definition 'dissident' because the Cuban
authorities claim to provide the services offered by these organizations themselves. An example of
this is the press. All media are controlled by the state. Those who wish to spread additional
information are sure to encounter opposition. This task involves even more difficulties than that of
other independent organizations, especially because it is concerned with communication and seeking
publicity. Cubans are not allowed to use cellular phones, Internet, computers, satellite links, et
cetera, exactly the facilities a journalist needs. Combined with transportation problems and the
prohibition to attend official press conferences, independent journalism in Cuba is a difficult
task. Especially since the authorities just by turning on the radio know exactly who is doing what.
That makes it a simple matter to prosecute people for slander, agitation and all sorts of other
activities that are designated counterrevolutionary in Cuba and therefore equal years of prison.
Pablo is an independent journalist and a woman told him that her husband would be tried the
following day for high treason. He was being accused of passing on information to the American
'Interest Section' in Havana, and that is a capital offence in Cuba. Publication of this news abroad
might save his life because Cuba is anxious as to making the fusillade public. Nevertheless, the
woman hesitated to permit Pablo to have the news published, out of fear for retaliations. Pablo also
felt dubious. He recalled the account of a fellow journalist who reported the police beating up two
boys. A day later the boys stated to the police that they did not tell Pablo's colleague anything
and that he had invented the story. Since that time the journalist is being detained. Pablo and the
woman decided to stick their neck out, the news was published through Radio Martí. Her
husband was sentenced to 30 years of prison.
The independent news agencies in Cuba have no access to the media that are controlled by the
state. Their only way to be heard in Cuba is through foreign international channels in Miami. Radio
Martí, the American radio station that from Miami is solely directed at Cuba, is an
enthusiastic customer of the contributions. To this 'shotgun wedding' with the exile broadcasting
channels there is a drawback. The cooperation with a medium that is considered to be biased, as is
Radio Martí, automatically puts independent journalists into the same category as
'counterrevolutionary Cubans' in Miami.
When in the course of 1995 the first independent journalists started to cooperate, four
organizations came into existence: the Independent Cuban News Agency APIC, the Independent Cuban
News Agency BPIC, HavanaPress and Cubapress. By now, the situation has changed considerably. The
first two as good as disappeared, HavanaPress now employs only two people. In addition, Prensa Libre
and Cuba Verdad have been established. CubaPress, established in 1996 by poet and journalist Raúl
Rivero, employs 28 people (mostly voluntary workers) and has expanded to by far the largest
independent press agency in Cuba.
Rivero was an eminent journalist for years with the official news agency Prensa Latina, for
which he was correspondent in Moscow. After he had turned his back on the regime he was imprisoned
many times and he was repeatedly pressured to leave the country. The most important customers of
CubaPress are media in Miami. CubaPress sends off contributions to Radio Martí several times
a week and to their own Internet site in Miami, at www.cubafreepress.org.
Journalists increasingly are a target of intimidation, in the country more so than in the
capital. Two of CubaPress' employees are currently in prison. In June 1998 colleague Juan Carlos
Recio in Las Villas was arrested and sentenced to one year in prison for 'enemy propaganda' and
'other offenses to state security', a legal construction in the Cuban penal code. Last September in
Holguín Manuel Antonio Gonzales Castellano was arrested. He has been waiting to be tried
since that time. In January, six independent journalists were detained. As mentioned before, the
anti-dissent law of February 1999 aims specifically at the independent press movement.
In addition to radio a number of agencies send written publications abroad and contributions in
writing and by telephone concerning the situation in Cuba are published on the Internet. Noted are
Cubanet (www.cubanet.com) and Nueva Prensa Cubana (www.nuevaprensa.com). These last media are not
accessible to the Cuban public, because use of Internet is restricted to what the authorities refer
to as 'los organismos', the official bodies.
Labor Unions
Another example of 'dissident organizations' by definition is the independent labor unions. The
largest labor union in Cuba is the CTC, the Cuban Confederation of Workers that officially belongs
with the communist party. This federation plays no part in the protection of workers or observance
of labor law, but rather serves as a control body for the government that implements the official
policy in the companies.
Therefore, in several places workers try to organize themselves into alternative labor unions
that, despite attempts to assemble into a larger federation, as a result of differences in opinion
are divided into even smaller groups. These unions do not have an important voice in society, but
rather have a symbolic significance. Many of the independent unions do not ascribe to a political
cause and do not speak out against Fidel Castro's government. They aim at nothing more than
improving the working conditions, better payment, and more rights to organize. They lack money and
their members are generally terrified of losing their jobs as a consequence of their activities. A
positive development is the increased support these organizations receive from abroad.
Until recently, international labor unions were wary of getting caught up in the political
antitheses between government and opposition and always obediently consulted with the official labor
union federation CTC, hoping in that way to change the structure. However, this is changing. In
November for the first time a representative of the independent labor union Consejo Unitario de
Trabajadores Cubanos (CUTC) was present at the conference of the Latin American Confederation of
Workers Clat in Mexico in the person of Pedro Pablo Alvarez Ramos. The CUTC was founded in 1995 by a
group of small labor unions, in order to combine strengths. The Clat conference expressed its
support for the independent labor unions in Cuba and called on Fidel Castro to carry through
democratization. Furthermore, Clat decided to hold its next annual meeting in Havana.
It appears this attitude has indeed led to an international conflict with the CTC. A delegation
of the Clat that was supposed to visit Cuba at the end of January 1999, led by the Belgian Willie
Pierens of the Belgian labor union ACV, was at the last moment canceled because of contention
between the CTC and the Clat in Brussels. The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
(ICFTU) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) to some extent are also open to the
independent labor unions. In December 1998 delegations of these organizations visited Cuba at the
invitation of the Cuban government and the CTC. On that occasion representatives of ICFTU and ILO
also had meetings with a number of independent labor unions, at the insistence of Pax Christi
Netherlands and others.
Some conclusions and recommendations
- While the world is opening up to Cuba after the papal visit in 1998, the reverse is not true.
On the contrary, with the adoption of the 'Law to Protect the National Independence and Economy of
Cuba', the Cuban authorities show their lack of will to structurally improve the human rights
situation and to take concrete steps towards democracy. Although human rights violations in 1998
have not increased, they have not diminished either. On the other hand, socio-economic repression
has increasingly become a tool of political control. A new crack down on dissent is to be expected
given the new legislation.
- The international community should increase pressure on the Cuban government to respect human
rights and democracy. The embassies of the countries of the European Union and Canada (as largest
investors) should install a 'human rights watch mechanism' in their embassies, that periodically and
publicly reports on the developments concerning human rights in Cuba.
- The UN Special Rapporteur on Cuba should be reinstalled, in the first place because of the
recent developments. An extra motivation is that in Cuba, because of the extremely limited access of
human rights organizations to the country in addition to the repression against human rights
activists located in Cuba itself, there are hardly any human rights monitoring instruments
available. In this sense the work of the former Special Rapporteur Carl Groth can not be
overestimated.
- Step by step, the USA seems to come to the conclusion that the traditional isolationist
policy stands in the way of a peaceful transition to democracy and human rights. In spite of the
disappointing response of the Cuban government to the US measures easing the embargo, new steps in
that direction deserve international support.
- Under the current circumstances, foreign investors (mainly from the European Union, Canada and
Mexico) strengthen the position of the Cuban regime. Because of that, but also because of violations
of the rights of the Cuban workers on the work floor in the joint ventures, foreign investors can be
held co-responsible for the human and labor rights violations by the Cuban regime. Pax Christi
Netherlands pleas for the introduction of a 'best business practices approach' by foreign investors
in Cuba, a voluntary application of international juridical standards (such as the ILO conventions)
to the Cuban practice. At least, such an approach should include: Direct contracting of and payment
to the workers in joint ventures; and recognition of independent labor unions in Cuba. Europeans,
Americans, Canadians, the private sector, labor unions, NGOs and governments, and multilateral
institutions such as the EU, UN and the ILO, should cooperate on this issue.
- The European Commission can play a role in establishing standards for a (voluntary) code of
conduct (or list of best business practices) for European investors in Cuba. EU embassies should
raise the attention of trade delegations for the human rights dimension of possible investments.
Embassies also could arrange meetings between investors and representatives of independent labor
unions.
- In the light of the new anti-dissent legislation, the 'common position' of the European Union
(conditioning further cooperation with Cuba) deserves further operationalization. Under the current
circumstances, there should be no question about full membership of Cuba (currently observer) of the
ACP countries (Lomé treaty) which is also conditioned with respect for human rights and
democracy.
- Positive is that the church has gained some space in society. However, structural freedoms
have not been created and promises to the church have not been fulfilled. Vulnerable organizations
such as Justitia et Pax deserve more support and recognition of the international community and the
Mother Church.
- The strengthening of civil society, especially of independent civilian movements and
organizations, should become a priority of the policy of the Cuba policy of the (member states of)
the European Union. The existing recognition and support by EU embassies to the independent movement
should be further intensified.
- The international community, including NGOs, should be extremely cautious about cooperation
with and financial support to officially recognized NGOs in Cuba. Many doubts exists about the
independence of such NGOs, as has been the experience of a number of European NGOs.
- As long as the Cuban independent labor unions do not have the means to claim their workers
rights vis-a-vis foreign investors, international labor union bodies such as ICFTU and WCL could
assume that role for them. It would also be welcome if these labor union bodies would report more
intensively about the situation in Cuba to the ILO and present concrete policy recommendations.
February 1999
Pax Christi Netherlands
Cuba report Pax Christi NL |