From our Bureau of Great Moments in Diplomatic History
Wow. As of today, representatives of Castro, Inc. will be barred from entering the chambers of the European Parliament. Surprisingly, this measure was drafted by a Spanish representative and approved by a majority of the parliament’s voting members. This is in essence a retaliation for a recent hissy fit in Havana that led Castro, Inc. to bar a delegation from the EU parliament from visiting Cuba to investigate human rights issues. So, tit for tat: you close your doors to us, we’ll close our doors to you. As wonderful as it is to see this happen, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the EU will stop aiding Castro, Inc. and ensuring its survival. Full story below includes links to documents.
From Prisoners Defenders
The European Parliament Resolution of February 29, 2024 P9_TA(2024)0122 ( ES / EN / FR / IT / PT ), still has many readers to capture, among them the diplomats of the regime, since its provisions are beginning to take effect.
This resolution was promoted by the MEP, a confessor of the most traditional and respected left in Spain, Mr. Javier Nart, non-partisan but attached to the Renew Europe Group, in his device he already clearly stated that “ in accordance with the principles of equality, reciprocity and mutual respect of the EU-Cuba ADPC, similar measures be adopted by which access to the premises of the European Parliament is denied to any representative of the National Assembly of People’s Power or of the Cuban regime .
As drafter of the resolution, Mr. Javier Nart has promoted the effectiveness of the measure, which became effective with immediate effect this week, with the approval by a majority of the Conference of Presidents and the support of the President of the European Parliament, which means that no delegation or representative of Cuba will be able to enter the facilities of the European Parliament, in reciprocity to the vetoes to the Delegations of the European Parliament to visit the island.
Is this a diplomatic conflict between nations?
No. More than a diplomatic conflict, which should have been, although the EEAS has preferred not to publicly defend the European institutions, it is a tool that takes the political temperature that the regime will have to face in the next European legislature if it continues with its repeated attacks on the European Parliament, an institution that is one of the fundamental pillars of the European rule of law.
Why does the measure arise?
In the fall of 2023, the European Parliament, after multiple requests, and given the exceptional seriousness that the human rights situation on the island had taken, made the decision to form a Delegation for an AD-HOC mission to Cuba. The regulations that These exceptional Delegations govern and require the democratic participation of the forces present in the European Parliament, through the Conference of Presidents of the different groups to elect, first, the members of the Delegation. Cuba officially gave its approval for said Delegation to visit the island, something unprecedented, because to date only those invited by the regime and who would campaign favorably, whether out of devotion or omission, went to Havana, among them Mr. Borrell.
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