CUBA: SWEDES GET TASTE OF OUR WORLD

C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 000315 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/29/2017 TAGS: PREL SW CU SUBJECT: CUBA: SWEDES GET TASTE OF OUR WORLD Classified By: COM MICHAEL E. PARMLY; REASONS 1.4 (b/d) ¶1. (C) Swedish Ambassador Christer Elm on March 29 gave COM and Pol-Econ Counselor an update on the recent diplomatic flap between Sweden and Cuba, beginning with Foreign Minister Carl Bildt's March 12 mention of Cuba at the UNHRC as a country of Human Rights concern. The rough sequence of events that followed was: -- March 12: Vitriolic Cuban HRC speech by Rodolfo Reyes Rodrigues accusing Sweden of imperialism, ethnic cleansing, Viking barbarism, racism, guilt by association with USG. Sweden ",,,hasn't earned the merit of membership in the HRC." -- March 14: Sweden MFA Political Director called in the Cuban ambassador, said language was inappropriate, demanded an apology, otherwise reamed him out. -- March 15: Bildt commented to media that Cuban behavior represented "...a desperate act of a desperate regime." Bildt reminded media that Sweden is a pluralistic society that even includes Cuban refugees, who enjoy freedom of expression that they are denied in Cuba. Bildt also mentioned that Swedish diplomatic pouches were tampered with in Havana. (Elm clarified that these were second-level pouches sent via DHL, in which a Christian Democratic Party envelope, with a report on Cuba, had been opened, but not stolen.) ¶2. (C) Elm said that he followed up by requesting to see the head of protocol, and passed to the Cuban Foreign Ministry (MINREX) a note protesting the violation of the pouches. He was first redirected to the Deputy Director for European Affairs, Jorge Quesada Concepcion, who complained about Sweden having violated diplomatic courtesy by taking problems to the media. Quesada added that the GOC knew nothing about the opened pouch and would not apologize. At a subsequent meeting, MINREX Deputy Protocol chief Ramos Milanes told Amb. Elm that MINREX "would look into the matter." Finally, on Saturday, March 24, Amb. Elm had a meeting with Europe Director Teresita de Vicente, at which she denied -- verbally and in a formal note -- any pouch infringement, accused Sweden of launching an anti-Cuba campaign, and rejected all the press allegations regarding Human Rights. Elm used the occasion to teach Teresita a lesson about Sweden's free press, and, responding to MINREX's request for greater European engagement, suggested that Sweden's human rights ombudsman make an official visit. ¶3. (C) Next Steps: According to Ambassador Elm, this dispute with Cuba has already made it to the agenda of the full Swedish government. He said that Foreign Minister Bildt will make a decision on how to proceed after he returns from a trip to Asia. Elm's analysis was that Cuba was carrying out a calculated "divide and conquer" policy vis-a-vis Europe; besides Foreign Minister Perez Roque's recent trip to Spain, Portugal, Italy and Switzerland, Teresita had also visited Norway and Latvia. The Cubans believe, said Elm, that they can win some traction among Southern European countries, while creating friction among the others. ¶4. (C) Comment: We see the Cubans picking a human rights fight with Sweden, of all places, as a blunder. We also see it as an opportunity to educate Europeans and HRC members that the ugly face the Cuban HRC representative showed to Sweden and others was not an aberration, but rather the essential character of the regime he represents. We would hope that in Sweden, some of the better organized groups of Cuban exiles might take the opportunity to come to their adopted country's defense -- if they haven't already. PARMLY