PORTUGAL: DEMARCHE ON EU ENGAGEMENT WITH CIVIL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LISBON 000008

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR, WHA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/06/2020
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV SOCI CU PO
SUBJECT: PORTUGAL: DEMARCHE ON EU ENGAGEMENT WITH CIVIL
SOCIETY IN CUBA

REF: A. STATE 131637

B. 09 LISBON 582

Classified By: Poleconoff Lucy Chang for reasons 1.4 (b,d)


1. (C) Per Ref A, Poleconoff met January 6 with Joao Batista,
senior Portuguese MFA official on Cuban affairs, to discuss
U.S. Cuba policy and Portugal's bilateral relationship with
Cuba. Poleconoff briefed Batista on changes in U.S. policy
and USINT outreach to civil society, and underscored the
importance of EU engagement with the full range of Cuban
society and continued support for improved human rights.
Batista emphasized Portugal's post-hurricane humanitarian
assistance over promotion of human rights in Cuba.


2. (C) Bilateral relations with Cuba: Batista described the
current state of Portugal's bilateral relationship with Cuba
as "cordial" and non-problematic, but acknowledged some
difficulties regarding Cuban payment for imports from
Portuguese private companies. He attributed these
difficulties to Cuba's lack of hard currency and suggested
that other countries were experiencing the same problem. He
noted that the Portuguese Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs and Cooperation visited Cuba in June 2009 at the
invitation of the Cuban government to discuss the bilateral
relationship, and signed an agreement with Cuba to resume
cooperation based on non-interference in internal matters in
accordance with a 2008 EU decision. The cooperation focuses
on post-hurricane humanitarian assistance, including food
security, and education. With regard to coordination of
efforts with the USG on Portugal's bilateral relationship
with Cuba, Batista highlighted the existing cooperation
(although he could not identify any specific areas of
cooperation with the USG aside from information-sharing) and
suggested continued exchange of information on ways to better
assist Cuba.


3. (C) Assessment of the EU-Cuba dialogue: Batista remarked
that it was too soon to see results, in practical terms, of
the EU-Cuba dialogue in the area of human rights, but
stressed that human rights is a recurrent theme raised in
every discussion on Cuba and in the EU Common Position. He
said the EU attaches great importance to human rights and
encourages broad engagement with governments as well as with
civil society. He pointed out that every EU trade agreement
includes language on respect for human rights and the rule of
law, but he also suggested that commercial engagement with
Cuba and an improved standard of living could lead to
improvement in the human rights situation.


4. (C) Stance on the EU Common Position: Batista said the EU
has yet to discuss and reach consensus on any changes to the
EU Common Position on Cuba. Moreover, he denied that Spain
was advocating replacement of the EU Common Position with
individual bilateral agreements. He vaguely referred to
Portugal's June 2009 agreement with Cuba as a "document"
rather than as a "bilateral agreement" and stressed the
"principle of sovereignty" underlying the agreement. Batista
said that Spain, as EU President, would seek to develop a
better framework to enhance the relationship between EU and
Cuba and to improve the lives of the Cuban people. He
reassured us that regardless of any changes, human rights
issues would continue to be on the table in every ministerial
on Cuba, and that Portugal would continue to raise human
rights and the issue of release of political prisoners. He
commented that release of political prisoners, especially
those in poor physical condition, is a high priority for the
EU but that it is a "difficult issue" given Cuba's preemptive
policy of detaining individuals before they have committed a
crime and its treatment of political prisoners as common
criminals.


5. (C) Support for Cuban civil society: Batista was not aware
of the extent of Portuguese engagement with Cuban civil
society or the extent of outreach activities at its Havana
mission, but noted that Portuguese diplomats can meet freely
with members of the opposition and civil society leaders. He
imagined that outreach activities were limited in Cuba due to
the size of Portugal's two-officer Embassy. (He undertook to
obtain additional information on the level and extent of
engagement with Cuban civil society.) He commented that some
Portuguese missions have information centers, but did not
know whether there was an information center or public
internet access at the Portuguese Embassy in Cuba. Portugal,
in collaboration with other Lusophone countries, is currently
discussing a proposal to establish a cultural center in Cuba
that would be open to the public. It is also providing 40

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million euros for two years (2009 - 2010) for food security
and agricultural projects to help Cuba recover from the
hurricane. The MFA's Institute for Development is funding a
Portuguese NGO working in Cuba on agricultural projects.


For more reporting from Embassy Lisbon and information about Portugal,
please see our Intelink site:

http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/portal:port ugal
SWEENEY