CUBA: ITALY SUPPORTS EMBARGO RESOLUTION,

C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 002249 SIPDIS SIPDIS IO/UNP JOHN MARIZ E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/26/2017 TAGS: UNGA ETRD PHUM UN CU IT SUBJECT: CUBA: ITALY SUPPORTS EMBARGO RESOLUTION, APPRECIATES HUMAN RIGHTS PROPOSALS REF: A. SECSTATE 148506 ¶B. SECSTATE 147620 Classified By: A/Pol M/C Gabriel Escobar, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Poloff delivered Ref A and B demarches to MFA Office Director for Central America and the Caribbean Michele Pala and Office Director for Human Rights Laura Carpini on October ¶26. Poloff urged Italy to vote against, or at least abstain on, the UNGA Cuba embargo resolution, and sought agreement on possible collaborative approaches to promote human rights in Cuba. Poloff also provided Pala and Carpini with the text of the President's October 24 remarks and the White House fact sheet on Cuba policy. ¶2. (C) Pala said Italy saw no reason to change its position on the embargo resolution, which it has consistently supported. He and Carpini both said that Italy would consider expressing its concerns over human rights in Cuba in its Explanation of Vote, the text of which is currently under discussion in New York. Pala and Carpini thanked poloff for the information on the proposed joint efforts on human rights in Cuba. Carpini said Italy would coordinate with EU partners in formulating its position, but said this seemed like a productive way to achieve our shared goal of promoting human rights and democracy in Cuba, especially given the setbacks in the Human Rights Council. ¶3. (C) In an aside, Pala said that during the October 17 bilateral meeting between Italian MFA Undersecretary of State Donato Di Santo and Cuban DFM Eumelio Caballero, who was in Rome for a biannual Italy-Latin America conference, Caballero pressed Di Santo for a visit to Cuba by FM D'Alema. Di Santo rebuffed the request out of hand, Pala said, telling Caballero that Italy would consider a visit to Cuba only if there would be an opportunity to talk with the political opposition and civil society. Otherwise, Pala said the October 17 bilateral was short on substance. SPOGLI