The Europeans pledge that human rights are and will remain a central part of E.U. Cuba policy. Cuba’s human-rights activists and freedom advocates on the island have demonstrated great courage and commitment to freedom and human rights — fundamental European values and principles — for over half a century. If European deeds are consistent with European words, they should and must be heard in Brussels. MIAMI HERALD: Europe’s relations with Cuba should require improvement on human rights - by Martin Palous In their meeting on Feb. 10, the European Union foreign ministers are expected to approve the E.U. position for negotiations with Cuba about a new agreement between the two parties. Leaders of Cuba’s pro-democracy movement on the island and in exile question whether the replacement of the 1996 so-called Common Position by a new instrument would be driven by economic interests of the member states and will abandon the Cuban people who desire the same civil liberties that Europeans enjoy. They point out that the Common Position places conditions on normalization of relations with Havana tied to significant human-rights improvement in Cuba, and fear that the E.U. meeting would ignore, like the CELAC meeting just held in Havana, the increase in government repression and provide some legitimacy to one of the world’s remaining totalitarian regimes. Is it really so? First of all, as Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, said recently, the Common Position is to remain in force until a new, legally binding agreement is developed. Even when this happens, its spirit is not going to disappear, but rather strengthen, and human rights should remain at the heart of the relationship between the European Union and Cuba and constitute an essential element of a new treaty. And all 28 member states of the European Union must agree. Several among them were trapped for decades behind the Iron Curtain before 1989 and returned to Europe after the revolutions during that annus mirabilis. They went through post-communist transitions and will use their own experience in the upcoming Cuba discussions. Whatever happens in Brussels in a few days, the negotiations that are to start on a governmental level between the European Union and Cuba will take time — it can be a couple of years — and there will be a space for public diplomacy and the participation of Cuban civil society. CLICK LINK FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE! miamiherald/2014/01/29/3901290/europes-relations-with-cuba-should.html
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 04:22:08 +0000
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