Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ROME657
2008-05-22 15:34:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Rome
Cable title:
ITALY/CUBA: ACTIVITIES FOR THE DAY SOLIDARITY WITH
how-toVZCZCXRO1002 OO RUEHBW RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR DE RUEHRO #0657 1431534 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 221534Z MAY 08 FM AMEMBASSY ROME TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0362 INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN PRIORITY 0779 RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN PRIORITY 9393 RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE PRIORITY 3053 RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES PRIORITY 3203 RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA PRIORITY 0042 RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 000657
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/PPD JEAN DUGGAN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/22/2018
TAGS: KDEM PHUM PREL KPAO SOCI CU IT
SUBJECT: ITALY/CUBA: ACTIVITIES FOR THE DAY SOLIDARITY WITH
THE CUBAN PEOPLE
REF: A. SECSTATE 45792
B. SECSTATE 46997
C. SECSTATE 51536
D. ROME 579
Classified By: A/Pol M/C Jonathan R. Cohen, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
.
C O N F I D E N T I A L ROME 000657
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/PPD JEAN DUGGAN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/22/2018
TAGS: KDEM PHUM PREL KPAO SOCI CU IT
SUBJECT: ITALY/CUBA: ACTIVITIES FOR THE DAY SOLIDARITY WITH
THE CUBAN PEOPLE
REF: A. SECSTATE 45792
B. SECSTATE 46997
C. SECSTATE 51536
D. ROME 579
Classified By: A/Pol M/C Jonathan R. Cohen, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
.
1. (C) Summary: Per ref A-C requests, Post engaged in a
robust effort to mark May 21's "Day of Solidarity with the
Cuban People." We placed the Cuba Solidarity op-ed May 20 in
leading center-right daily Il Giornale. Lobbying by the
Ambassador convinced Senate President Schifani, Chamber of
Deputies President Fini, and FM Frattini to make public
statements on May 21 voicing their solidarity with the Cuban
people and hopes for a free, democratic Cuba. The GOI
statements prompted criticism from the Italian Communist
Party. End Summary.
2. (SBU) To mark the "Day of Solidarity with the Cuban
People," post placed the Department-drafted op-ed on Cuba
Solidarity Day in leading center-right daily Il Giornale on
May 20.
3. (C) In meetings with Chamber of Deputies President
Gianfranco Fini and FM Franco Frattini (see also ref D),
Ambassador raised our plans for Cuba Solidarity Day and asked
for their support, to which both responded positively. The
Ambassador followed up with letters to Fini and Senate
President Renato Schifani, and poloffs worked with staffers
to coordinate public statements on May 21. All three
statements were immediately available in prominent locations
on the MFA, Senate and Chamber web sites.
4. (U) Frattini said recent signs of openness in Cuba have
been "too tentative," and that Italy hoped they would
"rapidly be strengthened, beginning with some concrete
gestures on behalf of political prisoners." Schifani and
Fini both called on Cuba to continue reforms and to protect
civil, political, and economic rights, as well as fundamental
liberties, in conformity with Cuba's international
obligations.
5. (U) Reflecting the changing Italian political landscape
exemplified by the recent election of PM Berlusconi, the lone
critical response to the GOI's statements came from the
Italian Communist Party (PdCI). Calling the statements
"nonsense," Iacopo Venier, responsible for PdCI foreign
policy coordination, said Cuba Solidarity Day was a "phantom"
observance cooked up by the United States in a "vain attempt
to destabilize (Cuba's) socialist nature." He went on to say
that true solidarity with Cuba had been shown by "those who
have always defended it against terrorist aggression, an
illegal and criminal blockade, and from attempts to turn it
back into a colony."
SPOGLI
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/PPD JEAN DUGGAN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/22/2018
TAGS: KDEM PHUM PREL KPAO SOCI CU IT
SUBJECT: ITALY/CUBA: ACTIVITIES FOR THE DAY SOLIDARITY WITH
THE CUBAN PEOPLE
REF: A. SECSTATE 45792
B. SECSTATE 46997
C. SECSTATE 51536
D. ROME 579
Classified By: A/Pol M/C Jonathan R. Cohen, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
.
1. (C) Summary: Per ref A-C requests, Post engaged in a
robust effort to mark May 21's "Day of Solidarity with the
Cuban People." We placed the Cuba Solidarity op-ed May 20 in
leading center-right daily Il Giornale. Lobbying by the
Ambassador convinced Senate President Schifani, Chamber of
Deputies President Fini, and FM Frattini to make public
statements on May 21 voicing their solidarity with the Cuban
people and hopes for a free, democratic Cuba. The GOI
statements prompted criticism from the Italian Communist
Party. End Summary.
2. (SBU) To mark the "Day of Solidarity with the Cuban
People," post placed the Department-drafted op-ed on Cuba
Solidarity Day in leading center-right daily Il Giornale on
May 20.
3. (C) In meetings with Chamber of Deputies President
Gianfranco Fini and FM Franco Frattini (see also ref D),
Ambassador raised our plans for Cuba Solidarity Day and asked
for their support, to which both responded positively. The
Ambassador followed up with letters to Fini and Senate
President Renato Schifani, and poloffs worked with staffers
to coordinate public statements on May 21. All three
statements were immediately available in prominent locations
on the MFA, Senate and Chamber web sites.
4. (U) Frattini said recent signs of openness in Cuba have
been "too tentative," and that Italy hoped they would
"rapidly be strengthened, beginning with some concrete
gestures on behalf of political prisoners." Schifani and
Fini both called on Cuba to continue reforms and to protect
civil, political, and economic rights, as well as fundamental
liberties, in conformity with Cuba's international
obligations.
5. (U) Reflecting the changing Italian political landscape
exemplified by the recent election of PM Berlusconi, the lone
critical response to the GOI's statements came from the
Italian Communist Party (PdCI). Calling the statements
"nonsense," Iacopo Venier, responsible for PdCI foreign
policy coordination, said Cuba Solidarity Day was a "phantom"
observance cooked up by the United States in a "vain attempt
to destabilize (Cuba's) socialist nature." He went on to say
that true solidarity with Cuba had been shown by "those who
have always defended it against terrorist aggression, an
illegal and criminal blockade, and from attempts to turn it
back into a colony."
SPOGLI