MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

A good one and a bad one for Cuba

A good one and a bad one for Cuba: on Tuesday Havana received the overwhelming backing from United Nations with 182 countries voting a resolution asking United States to end the 44 year old embargo of the island.

It was the 14th straight year the General Assembly, whose resolutions are non-binding, gives ample support to Cuba on the matter, although this year's margin was overwhelming and the largest ever. Of the 191 countries represented in the General Assembly, only four, United States, Israel, Palau and the Marshall Islands - voted against the resolution. Micronesia, abstained.

The bad one comes from European Union ambassadors in Cuba who stated that respect for human rights and freedoms have not improved since the EU suspended diplomatic sanctions. However ambassadors favour maintaining diplomatic relations with the Fidel Castro regime.

This Tuesday the EU Council's Latinamerica Committee, COLAT, received the diplomats' report on human rights developments in Cuba since June, when the 25 nations' foreign ministers voted to keep sanctions off until June 2006.

According to diplomatic sources, the report states that the human rights situation has seen "no improvements in recent months" and no progress has been made regarding the political dissidents behind bars since the spring of 2003.

Despite that, the report recommends "keeping critical dialogue open with authorities" and at the same time engaging in "intense dialogue with Cuban civil society", a proposal which received "unanimous" support from ambassadors.

In 2003 EU imposed mild diplomatic sanctions on Cuba after the Castro regime sentenced 75 dissidents to lengthy prison terms in summary trials and executed three persons who attempted to hijack a ferry in order to flee the island.

Last January EU suspended the sanctions, which included restricting official visits to the island and inviting dissidents to embassy receptions.

The UN General Assembly resolution calls for the lifting of the 44-year-old embargo on Cuba and asks Washington to stop implementing measures designed to strengthen economic, trade and financial restrictions on Cuba.

Along those lines, the Assembly condemned the extra-territorial effects of U.S. legislation known as the Helms-Burton Law, enacted in March 1996, which tightened the embargo on the Castro regime.

US Ambassador John Bolton who was not present during the General Assembly vote said the "whole event has been totally irrelevant".

As to EU strategy towards Cuba the Czech government, which supports a hard-line policy, would like to see the EU "Cuban civil society" program specifically committed to consolidate the island's regime opposition. However Spain rejects the idea arguing support "must be discreet to be effective".