ECUADOR DEMARCHE RESPONSE: CUBA AND EU'S HUMAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUITO 000774 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/05/2016 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL EUN EC CU SUBJECT: ECUADOR DEMARCHE RESPONSE: CUBA AND EU'S HUMAN RIGHTS BENCHMARKS REF: A. STATE 71974 ¶B. STATE 74378 Classified By: Acting DCM Douglas Griffiths for Reasons 1.4 (b&d) ¶1. (SBU) Poloff delivered points from reftels to MFA Director General of Human Rights Augusto Saa on July 30 and with Director General of Multilateral Affairs Lourdes Puma on August 6. ¶2. (C) Saa was brief in his response, saying that Ecuador maintains a policy of non-interventionism in the domestic affairs of other countries. When asked to comment about the U.S.-EU Summit Declaration and the EU Council's benchmarks for dialogue, Saa deferred to the MFA's division of Multilateral Affairs. Puma reiterated the non-interventionist policy mantra, but added that the GOE supports initiatives designed to re-establish cooperation with CUBA and that political dialogue with CUBA would be positive. She clarified, however, that the GOE holds that human rights issues should be handled exclusively by the UN Human Rights Council, and not by the EU Council nor through UNGA Third Committee country specific resolutions. Hodges