Even Conservatives in Western Europe are inclined to be scornful of the American economic embargo of Cuba, perhaps the longest running political tantrum in recent history. But Americans for their part might well ask whether the European Union’s own policy of “constructive engagement” has been any more effective in achieving what they both say they want, which is to bring democracy to Cuba. During the early years of the Cold War, individual European countries—particularly Spain, then led ironically by the Communist-hating General Franco—helped to keep Cuba from total economic collapse. But in 1996 the European Union, spurred on by the conservative Spanish Government of José María Aznar, and by discreet American pressure, adopted a “Common Position” which singled Cuba out for especially tough treatment. The European Union, at that time Cuba’s most important trading and investment partner, has for more than ten years tried to use its economic clout to pressurize Cuba towards democracy and a market economy. Cuba is now the only Latin American country without a co-operation agreement with the European Union. The Cuban government, for its part, demands to be treated with respect and rejects what it calls interference in its internal affairs. Havana has since cut off political dialogue with the EU and refused virtually all European aid. The European Union’s policy of limiting cooperation with Cuba, on the grounds of its poor Human Rights record, is riddled with inconsistencies. Although Cuba is certainly a one party state, which treats its political opponents severely, there is no systematic use of physical torture, “disappearances”, or political assassination, regular occurrences in a number of “democracies” in the region, secure in their partnership agreements with the EU. The Cuban government, unlike that of neighbouring Guatemala, has not been penetrated by criminal networks. Fidel Castro has not created a personality cult. He has not exploited his presidency of more than forty years to maintain a luxurious lifestyle or to stash away a personal fortune. In practice, in spite of their “Common Position,” the countries of the European Union are as divided in their interests and motives on Cuba as they are on most other things. The EU/Cuba relationship blows warm or cold, depending on which country is holding the EU Presidency, and the political complexion of its government at the time. Former communist countries of Eastern European, led by the Czech Republic, are the most intransigent. The Czechs make comparisons between Cuba and their own hated communist past and help to fund a number of anti-Castro NGOs and US/Cuban exile groups. The Czech government criticizes what it calls the EU’s soft, appeasement policy that, it claims, has not born fruit or achieved the target of a democratic and prosperous society in Cuba. It would like to see much more vigorous championing of Cuban dissidents. Two former presidents, Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic and Lech Walesa of Poland, have pronounced that it is “the responsibility of the democratic world to support representatives of the Cuban opposition, regardless of how long the Cuban Stalinists cling to power.” At the other extreme is Spain, linked to Cuba by its historical ties and common language and culture. Spain is one of the largest investors in the island, one of the few places in the world where foreign companies do not face American competition. So many Spanish business people have arrived in the last fifteen years or so that Cubans joke that the Spaniards are back to get what they lost a century ago, at the war of independence. Spain openly subverts the EU’s Common Position, working independently to foster ties with Cuba and the rest of Latin America, and openly opposes American policy. Prime Minister Zapatero has used the platform of the Ibero-American summit—a body which includes Cuba but excludes the United States —to call for the US to abandon its sanctions towards Cuba and to release the Cuban Five political prisoners now being held in the United States.
Fidel Castro, disillusioned with what he considered the hypocritical and opportunistic behaviour of the EU, decided that the European game was not worth the candle, and has looked for partners elsewhere. There is no prospect of regime change, and Cuba is far from isolated. The island has diplomatic relations with more than 160 countries, is host to students from nearly 100 countries, and its doctors are working abroad in some 69 countries. The Cuban economy is now enjoying something of an economic boom, with GDP growth in 2006 standing at an impressive 9.5 per cent. The key alliance with Venezuela, by which Venezuela’s natural capital of oil is exchanged for Cuba’s human capital, doctors, nurses and teachers, looks likely to keep the Cuban economy growing at a healthy rate for some time to come. Cuba has a trade and economic co-operation agreement with its Caribbean neighbours, and its alliance with Venezuela has opened the way to preferential trade relations with other Latin American countries. China, whose exports to the island are second only to those of Venezuela, has offered a variety of soft loans, and collaborates in security and intelligence. Leftward leaning governments, unfriendly towards the United States, have come to power in Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua. They support Cuba’s integration into the region. The EU, for its part, is looking increasingly irrelevant. The peaceful transition already underway following Fidel Castro’s illness suggests the likelihood of incremental changes within the existing political system. Raúl Castro’s strong team approach, the promotion of younger communist leaders and the lively debate about economic reform, all suggest that the regime’s opponents abroad, who long for its catastrophic collapse, are going to be disappointed. American opinion is moving steadily towards the view that abandoning the long sustained embargo, and accepting Raúl Castro’s offer of negotiation, would be in their country’s own best interests. Attitudes seem to be softening even within the Cuban exile community in Miami. It is time for the European Union to recognize that “constructive engagement” —making co-operation dependent on progressin human rights—has been neither constructive nor an engagement. The European Union, the world’s most powerful economic bloc, has made itself irrelevant. Cuba has integrated into its region and found ready partners elsewhere. |
