EU-CUBA DIALOGUE SCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 16

C O N F I D E N T I A L BRUSSELS 001589 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/ERA ELIZABETH KONICK, WHA FOR KAREN RAM, WHA FOR BISA WILLIAMS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/14/2018 TAGS: PREL EUN CU SUBJECT: EU-CUBA DIALOGUE SCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 16 REF: USEU BRUSSELS 1540 Classified By: USEU PoL M-C Chris Davis for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: EU interlocutors tell us that an EU-Cuba political dialogue is scheduled to take place at foreign minister level this Thursday, October 16, in Paris. The EU assures us that human rights and democracy issues will be part of the dialogue. The Cuban Government has made last-minute demands of the French EU Presidency, but with Cuban FM Perez Roque already in Europe, Paris and Havana may find a solution. End Summary. ¶2. (C) EU Council Secretariat Latin America Task Force chief Nicolas Pascual de la Parte told PolOff on October 14 that an EU-Cuba political dialogue is scheduled for October 16 in Paris. The EU, in typical troika format, will be represented by French FM Bernard Kouchner, Czech FM Karel Schwartzenberg, European Commissioner for Development Louis Michel, and Pascual de la Parte attending on behalf of HR/SG Javier Solana. FM Felipe Perez Roque will represent Cuba. As previously promised by the EU for any discussions with Cuba (see reftel),the agenda includes human rights, the transition to democracy, humanitarian aid, and cooperation in a number of areas. Katerina Beckova, political officer at the Czech mission, confirmed that the meeting was scheduled for Thursday and that human rights would indeed be part of the discussions. ¶3. (C) Pascual de la Parte said France was working to finalize the meeting, but the Government of Cuba was not making matters easy. After initial arrangements were in place, the Cuban Government contacted the French Ambassador in Havana to demand pre-meeting guarantees on subjects such as non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states. Pascual de la Parte opined that it was unfortunate for Havana to hold up ministerial level discussions with such demands and that the French were not inclined to offer pre-discussion declarations. ¶4. (C) Comment: Our impression is that the EU expects that the Government of Cuba will back down from its last-minute requests in order to make sure the meeting happens. Cuban FM Perez Roque is already in Europe and met with Spanish leaders on October 14. It seems unlikely, but not impossible, that the GOC would prevent the discussion from happening now. End Comment. MURRAY .