There were thousands of politically motivated arrests in Cuba during 2013 and according to various independent sources, violent repression on the island is at a 30-year high. In response, it appears the European Union respond wants to reward the apartheid Castro dictatorship for their banner year.
EU set to normalise ties with Cuba
Brussels (AFP) – The European Union is preparing to normalise ties with Cuba following a decade-long dispute over human rights, EU diplomats said Thursday.
Experts from the EU’s 28 member states this week “agreed on the principle of reviewing relations with Cuba,” an EU diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Poland and the Czech Republic, former Communist states that long opposed launching ties with Cuba due to its human rights record, had lifted their objections, the source said.
Another EU source said experts were working on documents needed to begin formal negotiations on a “Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement”.
Earlier this month, Netherlands Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans called for an EU rethink on Cuba.
“I think it’s time for Europe to revise its position on Cuba and negotiate a new position,” he said.
The EU suspended links with Cuba in 2003 after a crackdown which saw 75 dissidents thrown into jail. All of those imprisoned have since been released.
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I trust this is no surprise. Ain’t nobody helping Cuba except Cubans–maybe.
And don’t bother being outraged that Europeans don’t give a shit–too many Cubans don’t, either.
So evidently, Spain is OK with this also, despite its “right-wing” government. Imagine that. And of course, since Spain is historically far closer to Cuba than any other EU country, why should the others object?
What did I say last week? It’s the same ole’ 55-year long three-ring circus. It’s the same shit, over and over and over again, with no change or prospect of change.
Why? Because the “99%” of the island, the people of Cuba who don’t protest and defy the regime, who don’t call the regime out for the murderers they are, who continue to live in a country that refuses to give them even the most basic of human rights, will be okay with this, because it will help them resolver for one more day. Maybe.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph.