Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-09-03-Speech-3-014"
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"en.20030903.1.3-014"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Cuba is today the only country in Latin America, as has just been said, with which the Community has not concluded a cooperation agreement. This, I believe, is a mistake for three reasons.
First of all, in general terms, we should stop selecting the States with which we conclude cooperation agreements on the basis of highly subjective criteria founded on political and humanitarian views and, far too often, on the dictates, it must be said, of US policy. With regard to Cuba, as elsewhere, we should stick to objective criteria, such as, in the very straightforward words of General de Gaulle – which still inspire French policy – recognising States; nation States and not governments.
Next, we should take account of one particular fact: Cuba is one of the Latin American countries with which Europe is most closely involved. The European Union is Cuba’s main trading partner and its largest investor; Cuban culture, literature and music are amongst the most cherished by Europe’s youth. Lastly, President Castro is still, despite the highs and lows that we have heard so much about and which we certainly do not deny, the living embodiment of the twentieth century rebel, of the defender of people’s freedoms, which has earned considerable benevolence towards the island.
Lastly, we have all the more reason to be circumspect on the issue of human rights because the United States – which the German Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer, described on a visit to Washington in July as the main ally of every European State – without any mandate, moreover – have for the last year and a half used a Cuban enclave, Guantanamo, to breach practically every principle of international law and to settle their scores using somewhat barbaric methods more suited to another age. For all of these reasons, I believe we should review our attitude towards Cuba and show that country greater solidarity."@en1
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