PROSPECTS FOR U.S.-SPANISH COOPERATION ON CUBA

C O N F I D E N T I A L HAVANA 000148

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/4/2019
TAGS: PREL ECON PHUM CU SP
SUBJECT: PROSPECTS FOR U.S.-SPANISH COOPERATION ON CUBA

Classified By: COM JONATHAN FARRAR FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) and (D)


1. (C) Chief of Mission hosted new Spanish ambassador Manuel
Cacho Quesada for a working lunch March 3 to explore
potential for closer US-GOS coordination on Cuba issues.
Cacho took up his post in December and has maintained a
relatively low profile.

U.S.-Spanish Relations
--------------


2. (C) Ambassador Cacho began by saying he had received
reports that Spanish Foreign Minister Moratinos had an
excellent meeting the previous week with Secretary Clinton.
The GOS believes there are good prospects for closer
cooperation in the Mediterranean region and elsewhere,
potentially leading to a new partnership between our two
countries. COM responded that he looked forward to expanding
this cooperation locally in Havana.

U.S.-Cuban Relations
--------------


3. (C) Ambassador Cacho asked what changes to expect in U.S.
policy toward Cuba, noting that the entire hemisphere will be
watching at the Summit of the Americas to see what the United
States has in mind. COM referenced the Cuba-related
statements during the Presidential campaign and the
Secretary's confirmation hearing, and that Washington was
busily preparing for the summit. COM added that he has
encountered great interest in potential U.S. policy changes
but relatively little talk of potential GOC responses, and
asked Ambassador Cacho how he thought the GOC might respond.
Ambassador Cacho noted that Raul Castro previously said Cuba
would respond gesture-for-gesture, and that the United States
should act to put him to the test.


4. (C) Ambassador Cacho said he had been struck by the
emphasis which his GOC interlocutors placed upon the release
of the "Cuban Five" as part of any bilateral dialogue with
the United States given that, as he put it, such a release
would provide little tangible benefit to Cuba. COM noted
this would be an extremely difficult issue upon which to
begin a bilateral dialogue and that the appeals of the cases
were in the hands of the U.S. judicial system. He added that
some observers have noted that beginning with that issue
could be seen as a maneuver to block bilateral contacts even
before they began. Ambassador Cacho responded that releasing
the "Cuban Five" would leapfrog the GOC's position and take
away any excuse for it to respond positively. COM replied
that if one side were to decide it did not want to engage,
there would always be a ready excuse not to do so.


5. (C) The ambassador then segued into other areas of U.S.
policy toward Cuba. He asked why the United States had not
licensed an Internet cable connection between the United
States and Cuba, given that the Internet has proven to be the
most uncontrollable source of news worldwide. Surely that
would be in the interests of the United States even absent an
improvement in bilateral relations. COM noted that this
would be an Executive Branch decision, and that USINT devotes
considerable resources in Havana to expanding Internet access
for the Cuban public.

GOC Reshuffle, and GOC-GOS Relations
--------------


6. (C) COM asked for Ambassador Cacho's impressions of the
GOC Cabinet and other personnel changes announced the day
before. The ambassador said that Raul Castro has put people
in place that he believes will be more effective, but that we
should expect further changes. He said that the GOC realizes
that its economic system doesn't work but that it hasn't
figured out how to make changes without undermining the
political system. The ambassador added that he sees tough
times ahead for Cuba's economy, with nickel prices low and
tourism during the next high season certain to be hurt by the
global economic slump. COM asked how the switch in Foreign
Ministers might affect the GOS-GOC and EU-GOC political
dialogues. Ambassador Cacho said the change would be a
positive one as the new foreign minister was more diplomatic
and less political than had been Perez Roque.


7. (C) COM asked whether there had been any progress in
either dialogue, noting that the GOS had passed a list of ill
political prisoners to Perez Roque in the fall of 2008 but no
one on the list had been released. Ambassador Cacho
responded that the dialogues were processes that couldn't be
judged by short-term results. The GOS had raised the
prisoners list again in bilateral discussions in Havana in
January. This meeting came on the heels of the Spanish
Foreign Minister's rebuke of Cuba's ambassador to Spain for
public comments he had made criticizing the President of the
regional government of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre. Despite
this adverse atmosphere, the GOC had accepted renewed
discussion of the list. Ambassador Cacho presented this as
progress. (Comment: we will need to be persistent with the
GOS and EU if they are to put any teeth in their respective
dialogues. End Comment).

Spanish Presence in Cuba
--------------


8. (C) COM asked how Spanish companies are faring in Cuba.
Ambassador Cacho said that most Spanish companies have
learned to navigate through the peculiarities of the Cuban
political and economic systems, and thus are generally
satisfied with their operations. In his words, their
knowledge of Cuba's idiosyncrasies gives them a competitive
advantage over potential rivals.


9. (C) The Spanish consular section has ramped up
operations to deal with the deluge of Cuban applicants
seeking Spanish passports under Spain's nationality law.
Spain expects to receive more applicants from Cuba than any
other country in the hemisphere. Ambassador Cacho said that
tens of thousands of Cubans will qualify for passports, but
not all will receive GOC permission to travel (tarjeta
blanca). Chuckling, Ambassador Cacho said the GOC is more
concerned over who might return than with who might leave,
believing that returnees could be potential intelligence
agents. He said there is no bilateral agreement to
facilitate issuance of tarjetas blancas to these
newly-credentialed Spanish citizens.
FARRAR