ITALY: EU COMMON POSITION ON CUBA: ENCOURAGE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 004699 SIPDIS FOR WHA/CCA E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/13/2014 TAGS: PREL PHUM EU CU IT HUMAN RIGHTS SUBJECT: ITALY: EU COMMON POSITION ON CUBA: ENCOURAGE "GOODWILL GESTURES" REF: A. STATE 262206 ¶B. ROME 04474 ¶C. ROME 04282 ¶D. ROME 04198 Classified By: Human Rights/Labor Counselor Candace Putnam for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). (C) Paolo Miraglia, MFA Central America and Caribbean Office Director, reiterated to poloff that Italy and most EU partners are committed to upholding the fundamentals of the EU Common Position on Cuba while exploring strategies on how to further engage and encourage the Castro regime to act in accordance with the principles of the Common Position (refs b,c,d). Miraglia stated that in view of the recent release of some dissidents, which he described as a "goodwill gesture," the December 14 COLAT would focus on how to encourage further "positive actions" by the Castro regime. He said that although these actions were "insufficient" they pointed to "a positive development" which must be encouraged rather than stifled. As in previous exchanges, he did not provide specifics on how this might be done and did not indicate an Italian position on the issue. SEMBLER NNNN 2004ROME04699 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL