CUBA: SWISS FM CALMY-REY'S MARCH 23 MEETING WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BERN 000716

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/31/2016
TAGS: PHUM PREL ASEC CU SZ
SUBJECT: CUBA: SWISS FM CALMY-REY'S MARCH 23 MEETING WITH
FM PEREZ-ROCQUE


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Classified By: Poloff Eric Lundberg, Reasons 1.4 b/d

1.(C) Summary: Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey
received visiting Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez-Rocque
for a brief meeting on March 23. According to Swiss DFA desk
officer Stefano Vescovi, the meeting lasted one hour, with
three issues on the agenda: Switzerland's "double mandate" as
protecting power for the United States and Cuba in each's
capital; humanitarian aid; and human rights, where Vescovi
hinted the Swiss were pushing for a postive gesture on a
particular dissident. Perez-Rocque asked for Swiss support
for its membership on the new UN Human Rights Council, but
received no response. Vescovi offered a somewhat optimistic
assessment of the influence that a relatively open Venezuela
might have on Cuban expectations for their own government.
End summary.

2.(C) Vescovi told Poloff that Calmy-Rey had twice recently
-- in 2004 and 2005 -- declined meetings with the Cuban
Foreign Minister, but that this time felt obliged to accept
the direct request from Perez-Rocque issued to visiting
Political Director (and future Swiss Ambassador to
Washington) Urs Ziswiler in January. With Switzerland
serving as protecting power for the United States in Havana
-- as well as Cuba in Washington -- the Swiss DFA felt duty
bound to meet with the Cuban FM. Vescovi revealed no details
on which "double mandate" issues were discussed, except to
quip that the U.S. Interest Section's billboard was not one
of them. As an aside, Vescovi mentioned that he had read the
USG accepted the prolongation of the maritime boundary
agreement, about which the Cubans had expressed concerned.

3.(C) On humanitarian aid, Vescovi said that the two
ministers briefly reviewed the Swiss Development Agency's
programs with Cuban local governments on food security,
environment, and medicine (total Swiss bilateral aid this
year is budgeted at a little over $3 million). On human
rights, Vescovi refused to go into details, except to say
that Switzerland is testing Havana's desire for closer
relations. Asked if the Swiss were discussing the Cuban
opposition, Vescovi nodded, adding only that Bern planned to
"see if Cuba responds."

4.(C) Vescovi acknowledged that Perez-Rocque asked for Swiss
support to join the new UN Human Rights Council. According
to Vescovi, Calmy-Rey only "took notice" of the Cuban
request, without any comment. On the HRC issue, Vescovi
confessed that Switzerland was trying to keep Cuba as close
and constructive as possible, out of concern that Havana
could use its role as president of the Non-Aligned Movement
to torpedo the HRC as the body formulated its internal
procedures. Poloff said it was dubious that Cuba could be
persuaded to be constructive at all on the issue, to which
Vescovi expressed satisfaction that Havana had voted for the
HRC. He noted that Cuba, during its last NAM presidency in
1979, had used its influence to shift the UNGA's agenda
toward anti-colonialism and other "north-south" issues, a
trend Switzerland hoped could be avoided this year. Poloff
reiterated that Cuba -- or Venezuela for that matter -- would
only use its presence in any UN body to cause problems.

5.(C) Asked his general impression of Perez-Rocque, Vescovi
demurred, but noted that the Cuban FM's image among the
Cubans was a cross between "young shark" and "elitist
intellectual." Vescovi agreed that Perez-Rocque had no
prospect of succeeding Fidel Castro. Vescovi agreed that
brother Raoul Castro had the inside track on succession,
since "no non-revolutionary would have credibility among the
Cuban population." The best hope for Cuba to transition into
a democracy would be for the next generation of leaders to
divide into two, albeit left-wing, groups, with gradual
evolution into social-democracy. Vescovi observed that it

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was interesting for him to observe the Cuban reaction to the
few hours of Venezuelan Telesur broadcast on Cuban television
during his recent visit to the island. Yes, the Telesur
dialogue was entirely left-wing, but it was a broader
spectrum of left-wing than what Cuban programming usually
allowed. Vescovi understood that a growing number of Cubans
-- particularly among the rural intellectuals -- were taking
note of the relative freedom in Venezuela -- and asking why
this could not be possible in Cuba.

6.(C) Vescovi and Poloff both expressed hope that the
hemisphere's growing number of left-wing governments would
not follow Cuba's lead into dictatorship. Vescovi regretted
that the Venezuelan opposition had boycotted the last
elections, asserting that even a one-third to 40 percent
presence in the legislature could have had a positive
influence. He held out hope that the Roman Catholic Church
could still play a positive role there.
Willeford