C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 001118

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/22/2015
TAGS: PHUM PREL CU SP
SUBJECT: MFA ON CUBA CHR RESOLUTION, CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTER
VISIT

REF: A. A) MADRID 1030


B. B) STATE 44494

Classified By: Poloff Ricardo Zuniga; reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).


1. (C) MFA Director General for Latin America Javier
Sandomingo requested a meeting with poloff on March 21 to
discuss Spain's position on the USG draft Cuba human rights
resolution and to provide a readout on the recent visit of
Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque. On the draft Cuba
UNCHR resolution, Sandomingo said that Spain was consulting
within the EU regarding the USG draft, but expected Spain
would co-sponsor the resolution. He described the USG
resolution as "very practical" and crafted along the
procedural lines Spain would have favored had it been a
voting member in this year's CHR. Sandomingo hoped to be
able to provide a final Spanish decision on whether it would
co-sponsor the USG resolution within the next several days.
He was caught off guard when poloff noted that MFA Director
General for Foreign Policy Rafael Dezcallar had seemed to
indicate somewhat less support for the USG draft in a
discussion with Charge and had suggested Spain might not
co-sponsor, pending a review of Cuba's hint that it would be
willing to hold human rights discussions with the EU in
exchange for the EU's withdrawal of support for the CHR Cuba
resolution (Ref A). Sandomingo said he would check with
Dezcallar, but that in principle the GOS intended to continue
its past support for Cuba human rights resolutions since
there had been no significant change in Cuba's harsh
political climate. MFA Cuba desk officer Pablo Gomez de Olea
confirmed March 22 that Spain would join the EU consensus on
the USG draft, which he expected to be a consensus in favor
of co-sponsorship of the resolution.

//PEREZ ROQUE VISIT//


2. (C) Regarding the March 14-15 visit of Cuban FM Perez
Roque to Spain, Sandomingo said that the GOS had been
disappointed that Perez Roque had made no public or private
concessions during his visit. The MFA had not expected the
Cuban government to publicly announce mass releases of
political prisoners, but had hoped that Perez Roque would
recognize the political risks assumed by the Zapatero
government with respect to its Cuba policy and give private
assurances of upcoming prisoner releases. Instead, Perez
Roque asserted that the Cuban government was bound by the
rule of law and that only Cuban courts could order prisoner
releases. Sandomingo called this assertion ludicrous and
said it indicated that Castro remained in a wait-and-see
posture with respect to the EU and in no mood to make
concessions. Sandomingo was not confident that Castro would
take the politically-expedient measure of releasing at least
a few prisoner prior to the EU's June review of the
suspension of the restrictive measures on Cuba.

//SUPPORT FOR MAY 20 CUBAN OPPOSITION EVENT//


3. (C) Sandomingo said the MFA had pressed Perez Roque hard
on the need to demonstrate greater political liberalization
in Cuba, warning Perez Roque not to arrest or abuse Cuban
participants in the May 20 convention of political groupings
in Cuba called by dissident figure Martha Beatriz Roque.
Perez Roque reportedly denounced the planned May 20 gathering
as a "provocation by the USG and its mercenaries."
Sandomingo and Gomez de Olea said that the MFA is considering
ways to support the May 20 event, possibly by sending an EU
representative and/or issuing a declaration of support. They
said their plans to support the dissident event were
complicated by suspicions that the event would be heavily
infiltrated and possibly manipulated by the Cuban government,
but indicated that the need to support the principle of
freedom of assembly overrode these concerns.
MANZANARES