Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07THEHAGUE974
2007-05-24 09:17:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy The Hague
Cable title:
NETHERLANDS/CUBA: LIBERTAD ACT REVIEW
how-toVZCZCXRO5119 OO RUEHAG RUEHROV DE RUEHTC #0974/01 1440917 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 240917Z MAY 07 FM AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9227 INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 0159 RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA PRIORITY 0109 RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 2003 RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA PRIORITY 1687 RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 0429 RUEHWN/AMEMBASSY BRIDGETOWN PRIORITY 1050 RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES PRIORITY 0175 RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO PRIORITY 0099 RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 2656 RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 0647 RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 0310 RUEHDO/AMEMBASSY DOHA PRIORITY 0265 RUEHGT/AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA PRIORITY 0589 RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 0056 RUEHKG/AMEMBASSY KINGSTON PRIORITY 0384 RUEHKL/AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR PRIORITY 0161 RUEHKU/AMEMBASSY KUWAIT PRIORITY 0235 RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ PRIORITY 0426 RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA PRIORITY 0829 RUEHMU/AMEMBASSY MANAGUA PRIORITY 0111 RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA PRIORITY 0332 RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO PRIORITY 0253 RUEHSK/AMEMBASSY MINSK PRIORITY 0139 RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO PRIORITY 0274 RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 1725 RUEHBH/AMEMBASSY NASSAU PRIORITY 0180 RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 0583 RUEHNC/AMEMBASSY NICOSIA PRIORITY 0669 RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO PRIORITY 4969 RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 5146 RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA PRIORITY 0279 RUEHPO/AMEMBASSY PARAMARIBO PRIORITY 0300 RUEHPU/AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE PRIORITY 0112 RUEHSP/AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN PRIORITY 0349 RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY 0364 RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 0561 RUEHSJ/AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE PRIORITY 0208 RUEHSN/AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR PRIORITY 0779 RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO PRIORITY 0166 RUEHDG/AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO PRIORITY 0184 RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL PRIORITY 1369 RUEHTG/AMEMBASSY TEGUCIGALPA PRIORITY 0093 RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV PRIORITY 2882 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 1761 RUEHWD/AMEMBASSY WINDHOEK PRIORITY 0075 RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA PRIORITY 0045
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 THE HAGUE 000974
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA/CCA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/21/2017
TAGS: ETRD ETTC PREL CU NL
SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS/CUBA: LIBERTAD ACT REVIEW
REF: A. STATE 65523
B. THE HAGUE 908
Classified By: ECONOMIC SECTION CHIEF KAREN ENSTROM,
REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 THE HAGUE 000974
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA/CCA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/21/2017
TAGS: ETRD ETTC PREL CU NL
SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS/CUBA: LIBERTAD ACT REVIEW
REF: A. STATE 65523
B. THE HAGUE 908
Classified By: ECONOMIC SECTION CHIEF KAREN ENSTROM,
REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)
1. (C) SUMMARY. Dutch investments in Cuba remain minimal.
Post is not aware of any bilateral trade agreements or
exchange programs between Cuba and the Netherlands. The GONL
and Dutch NGOs remain active advocates for promoting human
rights in Cuba. Post is not aware of any high-level
diplomatic visits between Cuba and the Netherlands in the
past six months. END SUMMARY.
DUTCH INVESTMENT IN CUBA REMAINS MINIMAL
--------------
2. (SBU) Dutch investments in Cuba remain minimal. Damex
Shipbuilding and Engineering, established in 1995, operates a
facility in the Santiago bay (el Nispero Shipyards) with a
workforce of about 140. Damex serves as the license holder
and aftersales service location for Damen Shipyards Holland.
3. (SBU) The Dutch-based ING bank has a representative
office in Havana. ING also has a 50 percent share in the
Curacao-based Netherlands Caribbean Bank (NCB),a joint
venture incorporated in 1993 with Cuban-based companies Grupo
Acemex and Banco Popular de Ahorro. On July 28, 2006,
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added
NCB's Willemstad, Curacao branch and Havana, Cuba branch to
its Specially Designated Nationals list on the basis that NCB
is "substantially" owned by Cuban entities. NCB provides
corporate loans, letters of credit, deposits, transfers,
currency exchanges, and brokerage services to various sectors
of the Cuban economy.
4. (SBU) In a May 23 conversation, ING executives Heather
Loewenthal, General Manager Group Compliance, and Carlos Eric
THE HAGUE 00000974 002 OF 003
Rasch, Coordinator for Corporate Compliance, told Econoff ING
would be closing NCB and its representative office in Havana.
In negotiations to be finalized by the end of May, ING would
first acquire all of NCB before closing it down. Closure of
the representative office would take longer, as the presence
of ING staff at the office made the process sensitive,
Loewenthal said. Rasch said ING had been "winding down"
related business for a year, adding that NCB had only nine
clients and the ING representative office only 15. ING's
clients were primarily non-Cuban foreigners doing business in
Cuba, including the Japanese EMBASSY in Havana whose account
had been approved by OFAC, Rasch said. Loewenthal stressed
that the closing of both entities was a business-based
decision.
5. (SBU) Both ING executives said they were still
investigating press reports from 2006 that a U.S. ING office
faced fines for transferring money to NCB Havana through NCB
Curacao, and would inform Post of their findings.
6. (SBU) Post is not aware of any bilateral trade
agreements between Cuba and the Netherlands.
EXCHANGE PROGRAMS: NONE
--------------
7. (SBU) Post is not aware of any exchange programs between
the Netherlands and Cuba.
DUTCH PROMOTING DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN CUBA
-------------- --------------
8. (SBU) The GONL continues to actively promote human
rights in Cuba, including through programming run out of its
Havana embassy. In addition, a number of Dutch NGOs use
private and/or Dutch government funding to focus public
attention on human rights in Cuba. These NGOs include Pax
Christi, Cuba Futuro, Glasnost in Cuba and a Dutch branch of
CLAP. Others, such as NOVIB (Oxfam),avoid political
THE HAGUE 00000974 003 OF 003
commentary and focus on development assistance. Foreign
Minister Verhagen, prior to joining the government earlier
this year, was one of a number of Dutch parliamentarians
active in the Cuba human rights movement.
9. (C) The GONL recognizes that EU consensus has collapsed
on a common policy toward Cuba. It is also concerned that
its own diplomats have extremely limited access to GOC
officials and thus opportunities to influence would-be
reformers within the Raul Castro government. The Dutch
Ministry of Finance is seeking ways to engage the Cuban
regime without legitimizing it and is willing to consider
degrees of flexibility in EU member states' approaches to the
Cuban government (ref B).
HIGH-LEVEL DIPLOMATIC VISITS: NONE
--------------
10. (SBU) Post is not aware if any high-level diplomatic
visits between Cuba and the Netherlands in the past six
months.
ARNALL
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA/CCA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/21/2017
TAGS: ETRD ETTC PREL CU NL
SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS/CUBA: LIBERTAD ACT REVIEW
REF: A. STATE 65523
B. THE HAGUE 908
Classified By: ECONOMIC SECTION CHIEF KAREN ENSTROM,
REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)
1. (C) SUMMARY. Dutch investments in Cuba remain minimal.
Post is not aware of any bilateral trade agreements or
exchange programs between Cuba and the Netherlands. The GONL
and Dutch NGOs remain active advocates for promoting human
rights in Cuba. Post is not aware of any high-level
diplomatic visits between Cuba and the Netherlands in the
past six months. END SUMMARY.
DUTCH INVESTMENT IN CUBA REMAINS MINIMAL
--------------
2. (SBU) Dutch investments in Cuba remain minimal. Damex
Shipbuilding and Engineering, established in 1995, operates a
facility in the Santiago bay (el Nispero Shipyards) with a
workforce of about 140. Damex serves as the license holder
and aftersales service location for Damen Shipyards Holland.
3. (SBU) The Dutch-based ING bank has a representative
office in Havana. ING also has a 50 percent share in the
Curacao-based Netherlands Caribbean Bank (NCB),a joint
venture incorporated in 1993 with Cuban-based companies Grupo
Acemex and Banco Popular de Ahorro. On July 28, 2006,
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added
NCB's Willemstad, Curacao branch and Havana, Cuba branch to
its Specially Designated Nationals list on the basis that NCB
is "substantially" owned by Cuban entities. NCB provides
corporate loans, letters of credit, deposits, transfers,
currency exchanges, and brokerage services to various sectors
of the Cuban economy.
4. (SBU) In a May 23 conversation, ING executives Heather
Loewenthal, General Manager Group Compliance, and Carlos Eric
THE HAGUE 00000974 002 OF 003
Rasch, Coordinator for Corporate Compliance, told Econoff ING
would be closing NCB and its representative office in Havana.
In negotiations to be finalized by the end of May, ING would
first acquire all of NCB before closing it down. Closure of
the representative office would take longer, as the presence
of ING staff at the office made the process sensitive,
Loewenthal said. Rasch said ING had been "winding down"
related business for a year, adding that NCB had only nine
clients and the ING representative office only 15. ING's
clients were primarily non-Cuban foreigners doing business in
Cuba, including the Japanese EMBASSY in Havana whose account
had been approved by OFAC, Rasch said. Loewenthal stressed
that the closing of both entities was a business-based
decision.
5. (SBU) Both ING executives said they were still
investigating press reports from 2006 that a U.S. ING office
faced fines for transferring money to NCB Havana through NCB
Curacao, and would inform Post of their findings.
6. (SBU) Post is not aware of any bilateral trade
agreements between Cuba and the Netherlands.
EXCHANGE PROGRAMS: NONE
--------------
7. (SBU) Post is not aware of any exchange programs between
the Netherlands and Cuba.
DUTCH PROMOTING DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN CUBA
-------------- --------------
8. (SBU) The GONL continues to actively promote human
rights in Cuba, including through programming run out of its
Havana embassy. In addition, a number of Dutch NGOs use
private and/or Dutch government funding to focus public
attention on human rights in Cuba. These NGOs include Pax
Christi, Cuba Futuro, Glasnost in Cuba and a Dutch branch of
CLAP. Others, such as NOVIB (Oxfam),avoid political
THE HAGUE 00000974 003 OF 003
commentary and focus on development assistance. Foreign
Minister Verhagen, prior to joining the government earlier
this year, was one of a number of Dutch parliamentarians
active in the Cuba human rights movement.
9. (C) The GONL recognizes that EU consensus has collapsed
on a common policy toward Cuba. It is also concerned that
its own diplomats have extremely limited access to GOC
officials and thus opportunities to influence would-be
reformers within the Raul Castro government. The Dutch
Ministry of Finance is seeking ways to engage the Cuban
regime without legitimizing it and is willing to consider
degrees of flexibility in EU member states' approaches to the
Cuban government (ref B).
HIGH-LEVEL DIPLOMATIC VISITS: NONE
--------------
10. (SBU) Post is not aware if any high-level diplomatic
visits between Cuba and the Netherlands in the past six
months.
ARNALL