SUSPENSION OF TITLE III OF LIBERTAD ACT - URUGUAY

C O N F I D E N T I A L MONTEVIDEO 000483

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR WHA/BSC AND WHA/CCA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/16/2017
TAGS: ETRD ETTC PREL CU UY
SUBJECT: SUSPENSION OF TITLE III OF LIBERTAD ACT - URUGUAY

REF: STATE 065523

Classified By: Ambassador Frank E. Baxter, for reasons
1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Upon taking office on March 1, 2005, the
left-of-center Frente Amplio government immediately renewed
diplomatic relations with Cuba, which had been previously
suspended by the Batlle administration. This move appears to
have been a gesture by President Vazquez to the more radical
elements of his coalition, including Foreign Minister
Gargano, a strong proponent of stronger ties with Cuba.
Gargano and many in the Frente Amplio regularly criticize the
U.S. embargo on Cuba. The GOU opened an Embassy in Havana on
June 30, 2005, and Cuba's ambassador to Uruguay was sworn in
on November 7, 2005.


2. (C) The only two ministerial-level visits to Cuba occurred
in 2006, one in January 2006 by Social Programs Minister
Arismendi (Communist Party),and the other in April 2006,
when Health Minister Munoz accompanied a group of Uruguayan
patients for treatment in Cuba. Agriculture Minister and
ex-Tupamaro guerilla Jose Mujica accompanied Munoz on that
occasion. A congressional delegation representing all major
parties attended a meeting of the Latin American Parliament
(Parlatino) in Cuba in April 2007. A delegation from the
Uruguayan Communist Party also visited the island the same
month. The highest-level Cuban visit to Uruguay was the
presence of Vice-President Carlos Lage at the Ibero-American
Summit of November 2006. A Commission for
Economic/Industrial/Scientific Cooperation, created in 1987,
met for the second time in April 2007. The Cuban delegation
was led by the Vice-Minister for Foreign Investment and
Economic Cooperation. A technical cooperation agreement on
sugar cane research was signed as a result.


3. (C) In 2005, the GOU accepted Cuba's offer to conduct
ophtalmological interventions free of charge for Uruguayan
cataract patients, under a program called "Operacion Milagro"
("Operation Miracle"). Over 1,600 patients have been treated
so far. The initiative has raised strong protests from the
Uruguayan Association of Ophtalmologists. The Cuban
government also offers scholarships for Uruguayan medical
students, with about 40 Uruguayan medical students graduating
in Cuba every year. Post is not aware of any Uruguayan
investments in Cuba or Cuban investments in Uruguay, nor of
any bilateral trade agreements between Uruguay and Cuba. A
Cuban literacy program called "I can" was launched in March
2007, targeting literacy problems with adults. The main
Uruguayan opposition party, the Partido Nacional, delivered a
formal complaint to the MFA regarding a trip by the Cuban
ambassador to a sugar cane-growing area north of the country,
arguing that the ambassador had failed to pay a courtesy call
to the local authorities.


4. (C) Overall, the GOU's involvement with Cuba is quite
limited to a few areas of medical and scientific cooperation
and to some expressions of support by the more radical
elements of the Frente Amplio government. Minister Arismendi
was ridiculed by large sections of the Frente and by the
opposition when she suggested, upon her return from Cuba,
that Uruguay apply Cuban "experiences" in the area of
education. While Post is not aware of any declarations by
the GOU criticizing the human rights situation in Cuba,
ForMin Gargano was roundly criticized in May 2005 when he
suggested that Cuba be admitted to Mercosur. Gargano had to
publicly admit that Cuba is not a democracy, and would not
fullfill the "democracy clause" condition for Mercosur
membership. President Vazquez regularly receives invitations
to visit Cuba, to which he has consistently replied over the
past two years that he would love to visit but that his
agenda is booked solid.
Baxter