Tensions cloud EU-Cuba visit

Old arguments bedevil Europe's relationship with Cuba

By Daniel Schweimler in Havana

A high-level delegation from the European Union is in Cuba for a two-day visit designed to improve relations between the two sides.

There has been a cooling of ties since last year, when several EU member countries voted for a United Nations resolution condemning Cuba's human rights record.

The inability to agree on just who the mission to Cuba represents does not bode well for the talks.

The head of the EU mission, the Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, said relations were frozen, but he had come to Cuba armed with goodwill to build a new climate.

But there were disagreements even before the EU delegation reached the Caribbean.

Hours earlier, the Cuban Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying it considered Mr Michel to be a representative of Belgium, and the party was not considered to be representing the EU.

Cuba says Mr Michel only represents Belgium

The inability to agree on just who the mission to Cuba represents does not bode well for the talks.

Despite the disagreement, the Cuban Foreign Minister, Felipe Perez Roque, said he hoped the visit would allow relations between them to advance and progress.

Mr Michel said he had come with total humility and a strong conviction that Cuba and the EU must re-open political dialogue as quickly as possible.

Unpopular vote

In response to several EU countries' support for the human rights resolution, Cuba cancelled an EU visit and withdrew from trade negotiations.

When EU members voted for a similar UN resolution in April, Cuba was again outraged. It considers its human rights record to be better than many of the countries that voted against it.

Havana has said that internal opponents of President Fidel Castro's government are counter-revolutionaries in the pay of Washington and the anti-Castro Cuban exiles in Miami.

Mr Michel said he would, however, be meeting Cuban dissidents.