CUBA

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20 June 2008
United States, European Union Share Similar Policies for Cuba

By Merle D. Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer

Washington -- The United States and the European Union have common goals for Cuba, and they start with the release of political prisoners, a healthy respect for political opposition leaders and free and fair elections for the Cuban people.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack says the United States and the European Union want Cuba to embrace freedom, democracy and universal human rights -- unconditionally.

"We reconfirmed our shared commitment to these values in the June 10, 2008, U.S.-EU Summit Declaration, urging the Cuban government to ratify the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights," McCormack said.

When the European Union announced June 19 that it was lifting its diplomatic sanctions against Cuba, McCormack said, it also imposed strict human rights benchmarks that have to be met within a year's time or new measures could be imposed.

For the European Union it is an attempt to motivate the Cuban regime under Raul Castro, Fidel's younger brother, to improve human and political rights. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told the Associated Press that Cuba "is a repressive regime. ... Now we are very explicit on what we want. We want democratic changes."

On July 31, 2006, Raul became the Cuban president in a temporary transfer of power due to his brother Fidel's unexplained illness. On February 24, 2008, Raul was elected president of the Cuban Council of State and assumed complete control of the island nation after Fidel announced he would not seek another term as president.

"There is a difference of tactics here, but strategically we share the same objectives and we will continue to work with the EU closely on this issue," McCormack said.

While expressing disappointment with the EU decision, U.S. officials said the EU is insisting that Cuba release all political prisoners; allow Cubans complete, unrestricted access to the Internet; and allow a double-track approach for EU delegations arriving in Cuba to meet with opposition leaders and members of the Cuban government.

State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said current U.S. policies toward Cuba remain unchanged.

At a June 19 news briefing Casey said, "While we've seen some very minor cosmetic changes made by this regime, we certainly don't see any kind of fundamental break with the Castro dictatorship that would give us reason to believe that now would be the time to lift sanctions or otherwise fundamentally alter our policies."

White House deputy press secretary Gordon Johndroe said, "We think the Castros need to take a number of steps to improve the human rights conditions for ordinary Cubans before any [U.S.] sanctions are lifted."

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