NORWEGIAN STATE SECRETARY MEETS CUBAN OFFICIALS,

C O N F I D E N T I A L OSLO 000397

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

EUR/NB (VMIDDLETON, RDALLAND)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/18/2017
TAGS: PHUM PREL CU NO
SUBJECT: NORWEGIAN STATE SECRETARY MEETS CUBAN OFFICIALS,
AVOIDS CASTRO OPPOSITION


Classified By: CDA Kevin M. Johnson, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary. Norwegian MFA State Secretary Raymond
Johansen visited Cuba from April 9 through April 11, meeting
with several Cuban governmental officials. The Cuban trip was
part of a three country Latin American tour
(also including Colombia and Ecuador) which intended to place
Latin America on the map at the MFA. Johansen did not meet
Cuban opposition members, raising criticism from Norwegian
Conservative party parliamentarian Peter Gitmark. Johansen
claims he was given the choice to visit Cuba and engage in
political discussions with GOC representatives, or not visit
at all, although MFA members of the Norwegian delegation did
separately meet with Cuban dissidents. End Summary.

Johansen Engages Cuban Government, Personally Avoids
Opposition
-------------- --------------


2. (U) Calling his meetings "useful and critical", Johansen
stated that members of his delegation did meet with
dissidents although he hadn't personally. The Norwegian
daily Aftenposten wrote that Johansen stated an interest in
stepping up a dialogue with Cuba, while commenting that Raul
Castro seems to be showing a more inclusive leadership style,
evidenced by "greater latitude" given to the Catholic church.
The article quoted Johansen stating that it was the "right
thing" for Norway to have contact with Cuba, such as that
sought by Spain. The Norwegian daily Dagbladet also reported
that the State Secretary criticized U.S. foreign policy, with
Johansen stating that "The U.S. has an entirely wrong way of
doing politics vis-a-vis another country. I have little
confidence that this (sort of) policy leads to a regime
change." With respect to U.S. foreign policy concerning
Cuba, Johansen commented to Dagbladet that "I register that
Fidel Castro has survived all American presidents since John

F. Kennedy, and that the American boycott policy has not
yielded any results."


3. (C) On April 17, we met with MFA Latin America Section
Director General Herberth Linder and Adviser Oynstein
Johansen, who returned today from the State Secretary's trip.
Linder said the Norwegians seek to reopen a political
dialogue with Cuba. He confirmed that the State Secretary
would have been denied GOC political meetings if he met with
Cuban opposition members. The GON's position is that it is
better to have a dialogue promoting human rights than to not
have any dialogue at all. (Note: Conservative politician
Peter Gitmark told CDA that State Secretary Johansen might
have lost a GOC meeting or two if he had done the right thing
and had seen the dissidents, but it would have been worth it.
End note).


4. (C) Oynstein Johansen described the State Secretary's
meetings as positive. Johansen raised human rights issues
with Cuban officials on several occasions, and stated that a
political dialogue must include a dialogue on Cuba's human
rights policies and treatment of its dissidents. According
to Linder, the State Secretary did not view the trip as
creating a double standard, citing the example of Iran where
Norway "disagrees tremendously with what they do and stand
for" yet still maintains a dialogue.


5. (C) Although there are no concrete plans, the GON is
considering small scale cooperation with the Cuban
government. One potential area includes Norway supporting the
UN Development Program's natural disasters program, which
Cuba strongly embraces. Separately, Johansen noted there has
not been any discussion of the GON coordinating a Cuban
policy with Spain.

MFA Delegation Members Separately Meet Dissidents, Cuban
Officials
-------------- --------------


6. (C) MFA delegation members met with Cuban dissidents,
and believed the dissidents understood Johansen's decision
and did not criticize the State Secretary's failure to meet
with opposition members. Dissidents allegedly voiced
concerns that the U.S. policy toward Cuba provided the GOC
with an excuse to clamp down on the Cuban opposition. Citing

examples of a thawing government position toward dissidents,
Linder spoke with Cuba's Catholic cardinal who confirmed an
improvement of relations between the government and the
Catholic Church. One example is a letter from Raul Castro to
the Havana Catholic bishop wishing the cleric "the best of
success in his work," a note which shocked Church officials.


7. (C) Linder, a long-time Latin American expert, noticed a
much more relaxed attitude from his Cuban colleagues. For
example, Cuban diplomats, known to utilize English
translators despite being well-versed in the language, relied
less on translators and spoke frequently in English. He
attributed this behavior to a possible change in leadership
style by Raul Castro, who delegates more and, unlike his
brother, is less of a micro-manager. Linder emphasized that
despite this relaxed atmosphere, the Communist Party did not
embrace "new attitudes," and that any seeming relaxation of
relations with dissidents by the GOC were "minimal steps."

Cuban Officials Criticize U.S.
--------------


8. (C) The Cuban officials described relations with the
U.S. as difficult and felt threatened, particularly by the
Bush Administration's policies. Cuban governmental officials
hinted to Linder and Oynstein Johansen that if the U.S.
lifted its embargo, the GOC's treatment of dissidents would
be different. The Norwegians noted that their Cuban
colleagues were less worried about the future, given recent
US Democratic Party election victories in the House and
Senate.

Norwegian Opposition Criticizes Visit
--------------


9. (U) Conservative Party Parliamentarian Peter Gitmark
remarked to Aftenposten that the GON "continues to legitimize
the communist regime." Calling Johansen's decision "terribly
disappointing," he noted that the Cuban opposition was also
not invited to the traditional 17th of May breakfast (the
Norwegian national day) at the Norwegian Embassy in Havana.
Aftenposten also reported that Gitmark stated, "The
Conservative party feels that Johansen should have stayed
home if it was impossible to have meetings with the
opposition." He called it a "pity" that Norwegian government
"does not take democratization in Cuba seriously," warning
that given Johansen's high political position, and failure to
speak with both the Cuban government and opposition, the
visit contributed to legitimizing the "communist regime."


10. (C) On April 11, CDA and Pol/Econ officer met with
Gitmark, who emphasized his disappointment with Johansen's
visit. Restating the comments he made to Aftenposten,
Gitmark underscored that Johansen's visit sent the wrong
message, legitimizing the Castro regime's behavior.


11. (C) Comment. State Secretary Johansen's meeting
illustrates a continued concern that Norway's foreign policy
continuously focuses upon engaging in dialogue, even with
regimes which oppress dissidents. On one hand, Johansen
voices the need to jump-start a political dialogue with Cuban
governmental officials, pointing out that human rights
concerns was one of the discussion topics with Cuban
officials. Alternatively, he did not meet with any Cuban
opposition leaders, which may create the perception that
Norway legitimizes the Cuban government's behavior toward the
Cuban opposition, and endorses Castro's oppressive human
rights policies.
JOHNSON