EU Opens New Office in Cuba

yahoo.com ^ | March 11, 2003 | AP

[Cincinatus' Wife]

HAVANA - The European Union opened a new office in Cuba on Monday in an attempt to deepen relations with the communist island.

The 15-member EU is Cuba's largest trade partner, accounting for 80 percent of Cuba's imports in 2001.

"We are opening a new relationship," EU Development Commissioner Poul Nielson said in a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Havana.

Nielson, here on a four-day visit, said that in Cuba the EU planned to put into practice a wide range of projects, from social programs to mordernizing the economy.

Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, who met with Nielson, said he hoped the EU mission would usher in "a new era based on respectful dialogue."

Perez Roque expressed thanks for the EU's consistent opposition to the U.S. trade embargo against the island.

Cuba has applied to join the EU's Cotonou Agreement, which offers trade advantages and economic help to 78 developing nations.

EU officials have said it is unclear if the governments would approve the deal. Britain, Sweden and others are expected to press Havana on human rights before approving Cuba's membership.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

*** The 15-member EU is Cuba's largest trade partner, accounting for 80 percent of Cuba's imports in 2001.***

Gosh, with access to such vast trade opportunities, why are the Cuban people so poor?

And CNN is the on-island news source for reporting Cuban news to the world, so why does so little news get out?

I guess it's the communism. It looks like Castro will die with his commie boots on.

Fidel Castro

[Mr. Mojo]

This article reminded my of a quote from Zimbabwe's butcher-dictator Robert Mugabe last week when he was in France: "I feel right at home here."

The EU in Cuba ....home sweet home.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Oh, yes Mugabe is another Castro-communist. The next aspiring communist is Hugo Chavez

CUBA SENDS FOOD HELP to Hugo Chavez ***** Shouting "Killers" and "Lackeys," the protesters crowded around the DISIP vehicles, beating with their fists on their roofs and sides. The windows of at least one car were broken. Chavez, a fiery populist who was first elected in 1998 and survived a coup last year, has condemned the strike leaders as "terrorists" and "coup mongers" trying to overthrow him. He has called for them to be arrested and jailed and has also fired more than 15,000 state oil workers.

Waving national flags, the opposition demonstrators demanded a halt to what they described as a political vendetta by the president against the leaders of the strike. Anti-Chavez business chief Carlos Fernandez is under house arrest on charges of rebellion and criminal instigation. Other strike organizers sought by the government, such as Juan Fernandez and union boss Carlos Ortega, have eluded police.

As the protesters gathered, Chavez told a meeting of supporters in a Caracas theater that Venezuela had received donations of sugar and beans from communist Cuba to help his government fight food shortages caused by the recent strike. Chavez thanked his political ally and friend, Cuban President Fidel Castro, for the cargoes of 10,000 tonnes of sugar and 5,000 tonnes of black beans. He said these were being sold cheaply to the poor in the government's food program. "The Cubans gave up 10 million kilos (10,000 tonnes) of sugar from their own reserves ... they didn't want to accept payment, they said we could pay for them whenever we could," the president said. Cuba receives oil from Venezuela on preferential terms under a bilateral energy deal.

Chavez's opponents, who include private business leaders, union bosses and dissident military officers, accuse him of ruining the economy with his anti-capitalist rhetoric and left-wing, statist economic policies. They say he is trying to recreate Cuban-style communism in Venezuela. The president condemns his opponents as a rich, resentful "oligarchy" opposed to his self-styled "revolution."

Chavez announced the creation of a state-run network of shops which would sell cheap food to the poor. The idea appeared to be a replica of a similar system existing in Cuba. ***

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Chavez is taking Venezuela toward Castro's failed communist system.

Hugo Chavez - Venezuela