NETHERLANDS/CUBA: DUTCH NGO AND TRADE UNION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 001876 SIPDIS DEPT. FOR EUR/UBI, WHA/CCA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PHUM CU NL SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS/CUBA: DUTCH NGO AND TRADE UNION SUPPORT FOR CUBAN CIVIL SOCIETY REF: A. (A) STATE 152813 ¶B. (B) STATE 153312 ¶C. (C) THE HAGUE 1639 ¶1. As noted in Ref C, the Dutch government actively supports Cuban civil society and peaceful democratic opposition. The Dutch consider their (bilateral and EU) objectives with regard to Cuba to be parallel to those of the U.S., but are sometimes wary of appearing too closely linked to specific U.S. activities. As noted in Ref C, a number of Dutch NGOs support Cuban civil society and are working to hasten a post-Castro democratic Cuba. Per requests in reftels A and B, the following is a list of Dutch NGOs and one trade union interested and/or already involved in these areas. PAX CHRISTI -------------- ¶2. Pax Christi's work helped raise awareness about Cuban human rights prior to the EU's toughening of policies toward Cuba. Pax Christi supports the Plan Varela Campaign, a dissident-run petition drive to convince law-makers to put constitutional rights - which are currently ignored - into law. Pax Christi has contact with the Cuban dissident movement Movimiento Cristiano Liberacion (MCL),which seeks to stimulate the democratization of the Cuban regime, and MCL-run magazine Vitral, which seeks to empower civil and political awareness in preparation for a democratic transition. CUBA FUTURO -------------- ¶3. Less than a year ago, several members of Pax Christi's Cuba team broke off to form Cuba Futuro, an organization devoted exclusively to Cuba's human rights situation and hastening a post-Castro democratic Cuba. Cuba Futuro works to accomplish this by: denouncing Cuban human rights atrocities in public fora; providing political and moral support for Cuban civil society; and analyzing any domestic activities that may detract from hastening a post-Castro democratic Cuba. Cuba Futuro also supports international efforts in France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, the Czech Republic (including through cooperation with "People in Need") and new EU member states to support Cuban civil society groups preparing for a democratic transition. In the Netherlands, Cuba Futuro draws attention among tourists traveling to Cuba to human rights abuses (it co-organized a recent campaign at Schiphol airport),and promotes public debate about the ethics of maintaining a commercial relationship with Cuba which it believes may support the repressive regime. Cuba Futuro also works with the like-minded Christian Trade Union Federation (see below) to draw attention to enterprises working with the Cuban government circumventing ILO standards. Cuba Futuro hopes to keep up the efforts started in Pax Christi to convince European governments of the continuing need to maintain relationships with Cuban dissidents and a hard line toward the Cuban regime. HIVOS and NOVIB -------------- ¶4. Dutch organizations Hivos (Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries) and Novib (Dutch branch of Oxfam International),both of which receive a significant amount of Dutch official development funding, provide assistance to partner organizations in Cuba in the areas of culture, gender, HIV/AIDS, food safety, biodiversity and the environment. While some NGOs have raised debate over the ethics of HIVOS and NOVIB assistance to Cuban NGOs which are linked to the regime, the GoNL views contributions through these groups as supporting civil society in that they support initiatives of the Cuban people to stand up for their own rights. ¶5. Hivos provides financial and political support to twelve local partner organizations in Cuba, including agricultural, development, and cultural programs. Novib funds through its Cuban NGOs Centro de Intercambio y Referencia Sobre and Centro Felix Varela, and Novib's joint Oxfam International program provides assistance to Asociacion Cubana de Produccion Animal, Asociacion Cubana de Tecnicos Agricolas y Forestales, Asociacion Nacional de Agriculores Pequenos, Centro Martin Luther King, and Grupo para el Desarrollo Integral de la Capital. Christian Trade Union Federation (CNV) -------------- ¶6. The Christian Trade Union Federation (CNV) has contacts with the CUTC trade union in Cuba. It has subsidized the "organizational development" of CUTC, and currently sponsors the families of eight CUTC members in prison (for instance, it pays transportation costs for visiting family members). Domestically, the CNV has ongoing campaigns drawing public attention to the Cuban prisoners. The CNV has staged demonstrations at the Cuban Embassy and has co-organized a campaign at Schiphol airport for tourists traveling to Cuba. Together with Cuba Futuro, the CNV has called on the GoNL to stop subsidizing companies that do business with Cuba, and has called on Dutch companies to forgo investments in Cuba. For more information, there are two websites listing CNV's actions: http://cuba.jouwpagina.nl, and www.cuba.web-log.nl. RUSSEL