CUBA: SPAIN TO RENEW AID, BUT SLOW TO INCREASE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HAVANA 000977 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR WHA/CCA E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/05/2017 TAGS: ECON PGOV PINR PREL CU SUBJECT: CUBA: SPAIN TO RENEW AID, BUT SLOW TO INCREASE TRADE Classified By: COM: Michael E. Parmly: For reasons 1.4 b/d ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Spanish Assistant Secretary of State for Cooperation Leire Pajin signed an agreement on September 29 to implement the renewal of development assistance to the island. Separately, the Joint Spanish-Cuban Business Committee ended with both countries discussing the possibility of renegotiating Cuba's bilateral debt with Spain. The meetings reveal some novel yet cautious aspects of Spain's strategy toward Cuba: Proceed slowly with regard to the debt and on extending new export credits, but proceed full speed ahead with development assistance. End Summary. Development Aid -------------- ¶2. (C) Spanish Assistant Secretary of State for Cooperation Leire Pajin signed on September 29, during the 8th Meeting of the Spanish-Cuban Bilateral Committee on Cooperation, an agreement to implement the renewal of development assistance to the island. Minister of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation (MINVEC) Marta Lomas Morales signed the agreement on behalf of the GOC. According to the agreement, MINVEC's European Division "directs, controls, formulates and executes Cuban policy on development cooperation." The Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECI),comparable to USAID, is responsible for administering the new assistance programs. The agreement can be found on AECI's website: www.aeci.es. ¶3. (U) This type of government assistance had been interrupted since the 2003 GOC crackdown on dissidents. Nonetheless, according to AECI's website, approximately 44 million euros of official development aid were sent to Cuba during the 2004-2006 period, not from the Spanish central government but from Spanish autonomous regions and other localities within the country. ¶4. (U) The agreement creates a joint working group and establishes regional and social priorities for Spain's new development projects on the island for the next four years. Besides development aid for Cuba, both countries agreed to study other joint initiatives that could be formed on a regional basis by partnering with other Caribbean nations. Some of the areas envisioned are: environment; forest and agricultural development; management, prevention and mitigation of natural disasters. Haiti is mentioned as one of the first recipients envisioned for programs emanating from this initiative. ¶5. (U) The geographic regions prioritized in the agreement are the provinces of Oriente: Granma, Guantanamo, Holguin, Las Tunas and Santiago de Cuba. Also included are principal urban zones, mainly the cities of Havana and Santiago, as well as particularly vulnerable rural areas. ¶6. (U) The priorities of assistance by type, along with a brief summary, are: -- Management of productive sectors and infrastructure: Strengthen management capacity of public services in areas such as tourism, transportation, and agriculture industry. Reinforce administration at the local level in areas such as urban planning, water and waste management. -- Social development: Support policies aimed at achieving food security and rural development. Develop activities that support education, health, basic housing, and access to potable water. -- Promote economic and entrepreneurial network: Support micro and small enterprises, in particular, aiming to diversify agriculture production and the food industry. Training and technical assistance of planning and management of tourism at the local level. -- Environment: In accordance with AECI's sustainable development plan in Latin America, Araucaria XXI. Specifically for Cuba, education about the environment and climate change, and the proper use and management of HAVANA 00000977 002 OF 002 protected areas and natural reserves. -- Cultural and scientific cooperation: Scholarships and exchange programs at the undergraduate level and above meant to support higher education and scientific research. More cultural collaboration projects and a Spanish expression of their intent to reopen their Cultural Center in Havana. Training of personnel to manage culture in support of development aims (commercialization of cultural products, restoration of historic buildings, etc.). -- Gender and development: Gender issues are to be promoted throughout all assistance programs, in particular, the establishment of gender equality policies and mechanisms. Bilateral Trade -------------- ¶7. (U) The 15th Meeting of the Joint Spanish-Cuban Business Committee ended on 28 September. Spain is Cuba's third largest trading partner, after Venezuela and China, with bilateral trade totaling about 769 million euros. According to Juan Arenas, who headed the Spanish side of the 15th Committee Meeting, Spanish sales to Cuba increased 20% from 2006 and are projected to increase a further 15% this year, going from 629 million euros last year to possibly more than 700 million by the end of this year. Despite the difficulties encountered in the process of doing business with Cuba, Spanish investors are hungry for more. Nevertheless, they have been unable to convince the Spanish and Cuban governments to negotiate one large obstacle in their way, Cuba's debt to Spain. Bilateral Debt -------------- ¶8. (C) According to press, Cuba's commercial debt to Spain is approximately USD 1.4 billion. More than a billion dollars of that is Soviet era debt, which is subject to the Paris Club negotiation mechanism. However, somewhere between USD 300-400 million is post Soviet-era debt that is bilateral and therefore could be renegotiated. According to Spanish Commercial Attache Jose Luis Lancho, the GOC had signaled late last year its disposition to "revisit the debt issue" with Spain. During the meetings last week, Lancho said both sides reached a consensus on the exact figures of the debt. This consensus is a necessary -- yet only preliminary -- step before negotiations to restructure the debt can take place. Lancho confirmed that those kinds of negotiations have not taken place, but admitted that they could happen in the not-so-distant future. ¶9. (C) Comment: Lancho assured Econoff that the two overlapping meetings were unrelated. Nonetheless, they reveal some novel yet cautious aspects of Spain's strategy toward Cuba: Proceed slowly with regard to the debt and on extending new export credits, but proceed full speed ahead with development assistance. It seems the development assistance, at least on paper, would complement GOC development efforts in priority areas where it feels most vulnerable. While the programs will surely benefit many poor Cubans, they would also -- by appeasing the neediest and most vulnerable part of the population -- allow the regime to argue that it is delivering on the promises made by Raul Castro in his July 26th speech. Some of the provisions in the agreement, such as the possibility of microfinancing schemes to support micro and small businesses, are particularly interesting in the current climate of speculation about impending economic reform. Microcredits, however, could be used just as easily to finance a small state enterprise as a private or semi-private one. The Spanish are hoping to promote development of the latter, but it remains to be seen whether the GOC shares the same vision. PARMLY