Much has been made of this letter from Arpad Göncz, Vaclav Havel and Lech Walesa urging support for Cuba's dissidents. Tacitus has also mentioned the letter and made the following comment: "Chance of a meaningful European response: zero."
That really ignores recent events as I pointed out in the comments section of the post:
The EU has already put their relationship with Cuba under serious review, last year the European Parliament awarded Oswaldo Payá, the Varela Project founder the Sakharov Prize, their annual human rights award, and as I pointed out here, the French Embassy in Havana made a point of inviting Cuban dissidents in Cuba to the Bastille Day celebrations, which resulted in the Cuban government officials to show up only to return their invitations.EU members have already agreed to reduce high-level governmental visits and participation in cultural events on the island. Castro has been railing against the EU because of its reaction against the jailing of the dissidents six months ago. The EU has been stepping up to the plate on this issue and I believe more will be done.
The comment also ignores this part of their letter:
It cannot be claimed that the American embargo of Cuba has brought about the desired result. Neither can this be said of the European policy, which has so far been considerably more forthcoming towards the Cuban regime.It is time to put aside transatlantic disputes about the embargo of Cuba and to concentrate on direct support for Cuban dissidents, prisoners of conscience and their families.
The call is clearly for fresh ideas and support for the dissidents. the onus is not solely on Europe to make a meaningful response. A 40+ year embargo that has provided Castro with ample excuses for his nation's problems and which there is compelling anecdotal evidence that he makes a point of deliberately thwarting the thawing of relations between the US and Cuba. Support for the embargo and support for the dissidents - in light of the fact that so many of the prominent dissidents, including some who are currently in jail, oppose the embargo - seems to be a good example of foolish consistency.
My only quibble with the letter is that I think that they gave short shrift to the value of the contributions from other Latin American leaders (no, I don't expect Chávez to sign on to this). I think that their contributions would be most valuable. In any event, as long as castro and his apologists can paint this as a US-Cuba dispute, I don't see how any progress can be made.
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