Wednesday, December 13, 2016. Over thirty Cuban peaceful opposition groups sent a letter to the European Union on the occasion of Monday's signing of its Cooperation Agreement with Cuba by the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council. The missive was addressed to Federica Mogherini, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Commission, and requests that ratification of the Agreement be subject to six concrete conditions conducive to a real transition to democracy in Cuba.
The letter states that the EU-Cuba Cooperation Agreement lacks guarantees for the Cuban people’s exercise of individual and collective freedoms and ignores the values on which the European Union is founded. Citing intensifying violent repression, it denounces the Cuban government’s responsibility in “the imprisonment of tens of thousands of dissenters, of thousands of extrajudicial killings and executions, and of the exile of millions of Cubans.” Evoking the crimes of communism suffered by many EU member states, it declares: “For Europe to ignore the plight of the Cuban people is to turn its back on its own history.”
The six requested conditions for ratification of the Agreement are the attainment by Cuba's citizens of the right to self-determination and free elections, to free and full access to information, including the internet, and to enter into joint ventures with EU investors. Additional conditions are for EU interests doing business in Cuba to adhere to principles barring discriminatory, exploitative, and repressive practices, as well as for political repression to end and for Cuba to ratify the International Covenants on Human Rights.
Signatories also expressed concern over the Cuban government’s confiscations from EU investors in manipulated legal processes and its denying entry into Cuba, for political reasons, to members of Parliament and political representatives from EU member states.
The concerted effort by Cuban opposition groups resulted from meetings with Pavel Telicka, Czech Member of the European Parliament, during a 2-day visit to Miami. Mr. Telicka, Second Vice President of the ALDE Group (Alliance for Liberals and Democrats for Europe), also issued a statement Monday calling for respect for human rights and individual freedoms to be at the core of EU cooperation with Cuba. See:
http://www.telicka.eu/novinka/en/1156/eu-cuba-agreement-respect-for-human-rights-and-individual-freedoms-must-be-at-its-core/#novinky More than thirty opposition groups working inside and outside Cuba signed the letter, yet more organizations continue to subscibe and their signatures will be delivered to the European Union. Organizations wishing to participate should write to
info@CubaArchive.org (please use “Sign letter to EU” in the subject line).
See the letter by Cuban opposition groups at:
http://www.cubaarchive.org/files/Carta_de_opositores_cubanos_a_la_UE_(ENG-3).pdf
For information on the EU-Cuba relation, see:
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2016/12/06-eu-cuba-relations/?utm_source=dsms-auto&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EU-Cuba%3a+Council+opens+new+chapter+in+relations
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