Cuba Slams Door in UN Special Representative's Face

HAVANA, Mar 14 (IPS) - The Cuban government refused permission Friday for a visit by a special United Nations representative, Christine Chanet, named to monitor the human rights situation in this socialist Caribbean island nation.

Cuba "will not allow (Chanet) to carry out her mandate," Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque said Friday.

He clarified, however, that the refusal to authorize the visit should not be understood as anything personal against the special representative herself or against UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Sergio Vieira de Mello, who appointed her.

Pérez Roque underlined that his country viewed the designation of a special human rights representative to visit Cuba as invalid, as it forms part of a UN Commission on Human Rights resolution that it deems illegitimate.

The decision to name a special representative was part of a resolution condemning Cuba, approved in April 2002 in the Commission by a vote of 23 to 21, with nine abstentions. The initiative was presented by Peru and Uruguay and backed by several other Latin American nations as well as Canada.

The text urged Havana to guarantee civil and political rights, and endorsed the designation of a special representative by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to visit Cuba.

The Commission has passed resolutions condemning the human rights situation in Cuba every year since 1990, with the exception of 1998. Last year's resolution was the first to be introduced by Latin American countries.

The condemnation of Cuba's human rights situation triggered a diplomatic row between Cuba and Uruguay, which ended with the rupture of relations between the two countries.

The Cuban government complains that the resolutions are "fabricated by the United States with the basic objective of justifying its (four-decade) blockade and aggression against the Cuban people," said Pérez Roque.

"Cuba has rejected, and will continue to reject, that anti-Cuban exercise," for which it holds the U.S. government and the "Cuban mafia in Miami"--an allusion to the vociferously anti-Castro Cuban exile community in that U.S. city--responsible, the foreign minister said in a news briefing.

Pérez Roque plans to travel next week to Geneva to attend the annual session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, which convenes Monday.

The official said he would tirelessly fight any new attempt to condemn Cuba's human rights record.

The socialist government of Fidel Castro insists that it respects human rights to a greater extent than other countries, by guaranteeing broad coverage of social services like free health care and education. It argues that countries that fail to take care of their poor are in no position to criticize.

"Our work in favor of political, social, economic, and cultural rights is increasingly recognized around the world," said Pérez Roque.

The minister said he hoped that on this occasion the governments of Latin America would not yield "to pressure and blackmail" in Geneva, and that "sovereignty and regional solidarity" would prevail. According to Pérez Roque, the United States has already begun campaigning in Latin America to drum up support for a new resolution against Cuba in the Commission's meetings, which will run through April 25.

But in Geneva, no government has so far expressed interest in sponsoring a motion against Cuba, in the current climate which is so heavily affected by the crisis over Iraq in the Security Council.

The decision not to authorize the visit by Chanet, a French jurist, was described as a "serious error" by dissident groups in Cuba, which are illegal but tolerated by the government.

Cuba is negotiating admission to the Cotonou Accord, through which the European Union offers trade advantages and economic assistance to 77 former African, Caribbean and Pacific island colonies.

"Europe has wanted Cuba to join Cotonou, but these signals that the government is sending out are not positive," Héctor Palacios, director of the Social Studies Center and the head of the opposition coalition Todos Unidos (Everyone United), told IPS.

In his opinion, Cuba's decision not to grant the UN human rights representative permission to visit "will only help isolate the government."

Cuba's human rights record remains a cause of discrepancy between the Castro government and the EU, which has voted as a bloc on resolutions against Cuba submitted to the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, and has conditioned admission to the Cotonou Accord on improvements in that area.

Pérez Roque's announcement coincided with the visit of European Commissioner on Development and Humanitarian Aid, Poul Nielson, to Havana.

Nielson said he welcomed Cuba's application to join the Cotonou Accord. But several of the 15 EU member countries continue to insist that Cuba must show that it is moving towards greater respect for basic freedoms before it can be accepted as part of the preferential trade agreement.

A document that Cuba will distribute in Geneva points out that in 1994, the island nation welcomed a visit by then-UN high commissioner for human rights, José Ayala Lasso.

However, at the same time it refused to authorize a visit by a special rapporteur on Cuba, Carl Johan Groth, whose designation it viewed as invalid.

Ayala Lasso, who met with Castro and several opposition leaders, described his visit to the country at that time as "positive" because it helped open up dialogue with the Cuban government.

The socialist government of Fidel Castro insists that it respects human rights to a greater extent than other countries, by guaranteeing broad coverage of social services like free health care and education. It argues that countries that fail to take care of their poor are in no position to criticize.

EU Opens New Office in Cuba [Full Text] 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. [End]

Fidel Castro – Cuba

Cuba limits travel of U.S. diplomats - "He's talked to hundreds of people"***The State Department officials were quite certain Cuba was uneasy about Cason's extensive travels. He's talked to hundreds of people," one official said.

Cason ran afoul of President Fidel Castro late last month. He showed up at a meeting of dissidents and spoke to a group of international reporters, telling them that "the Cuban government is afraid, afraid of freedom of conscience, afraid of freedom of expression, afraid of human rights."

Last week, Castro issued a sarcastic response, saying, "Actually, Cuba is so afraid that it will calmly take all the time needed to decide on its course of action regarding this bizarre official."

"Anyone can see that this is a shameless and defiant provocation," Castro said, apparently referring to Cason's decision to meet with the dissidents. ***

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