On May 23th we have held the conference “European Union-Cuba Relations. Is Spain where it is expected?”, organized by the CEU Institute of American Studies, the Spanish Association Cuba in Transition and Cuba Decide, in which the historical and current situation of Cuba and the position of the European Union and Spain in this regard has been analyzed. In addition, the urgency of a critical review of the EU’s relationship with Cuba and the need to support the Cuban people in their struggle for freedom and human rights was underlined.

The meeting was attended by several human rights defenders and members of the European Parliament, who highlighted critical points about the situation in Cuba and the European position: Cuba Decide founder, Rosa María Payá; the coordinator of the Cuban Resistance Assembly, Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat; the Venezuelan MEP of the European People’s Party group, Leopoldo López Gil; the MEP of the ECR group and president of ECR-EuroLat, Hermann Tertsch; and the MEP of the Renew Europe group, José Ramón Bauzá.

The conference began with the intervention of the founder of Cuba Decide, Rosa María Payá, who pointed out the acts of State terrorism committed against Cuban citizens, and emphasized the repression and lack of freedoms in the country. “The Cuban State is kidnapped by a dictatorship that has no way to satisfy the basic needs of Cubans,” said Payá. In this sense, she mentioned specific cases of human rights violations, such as the isolation of José Daniel Ferrer in prison.

The founder of Cuba Decide argued that the tolerance of the international community towards the Cuban dictatorship has contributed to the decline of democracies in Latin America. She also stressed the close relationship between Cuba and Russia: “The Cuban regime is Putin’s best transatlantic ally“.

The Cuban model, an example of totalitarianism

From his part, the coordinator of the Cuban Resistance Assembly, Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat, offered a historical review of the Cuban regime, describing how agriculture was used to control food and, therefore, the population. He has also detailed the cycle of impoverishment, low birth rate, imprisonment and death used by the regime to maintain its dominance. Gutiérrez-Boronat concluded by stating that “the Cuban model is a disastrous example of totalitarianism that harms humanity“.

The Venezuelan MEP of the European People’s Party group, Leopoldo López Gil, has made a call to conscience, criticizing those who participate in tourism in Cuba without recognizing the oppressive reality of the regime. In this sense, he pointed out that the European Union currently finances more than 150 projects on the island, and questioned the transparency in the use of these funds. López Gil appealed to European citizens to demand responsibility and accountability for the resources destined to Cuba: “we have to do something, but not from the institutions, but from the citizens“.

The scandalous support to the Cuban regime

For his part, Hermann Tertsch, also an MEP of the ECR group and president of ECR-EuroLat, pointed out the support that some politicians of the European Parliament give to the Cuban regime, describing as scandalous the complicity with the Sao Paulo Forum and the communist parties: “The foreign policy of the EU has promoted in the last 10 years the Sao Paulo Forum and all the worst criminal forces related to drug trafficking and the communist movement“. He also reviewed the sanctions that the EU has promoted against the Cuban regime and criticized the position of some European governments (including Spain) for their support to the regime.

Finally, the MEP of the Renew Europe group, José Ramón Bauzá, has questioned the position of the Spanish government, stating that it is at the antipodes of what was expected in terms of condemnation of the Cuban regime. Bauzá has advocated the cancellation of the association agreement between the EU and Cuba and stressed the need for a firm and decisive stance on the part of European politicians to denounce the actions of the Cuban regime and its links with Russia. In addition, the MEP of the Renew Europe group emphasized the ethical and moral importance of the international community in denouncing these abuses and the transparency in the use of funds destined for Cuba.