New EU Strategy on Cuba won't see the light of day
That's according to the EU Observer. Probably not a big loss because the proposed plan, which Spain will block, sounds soft:
The EU is ready to "engage in intensified exchange [with Havana] in a range of fields like culture, education, science, youth and sport and to cooperate on matters regarding energy, natural resources, environment, climate change and infrastructure, among others," it goes on.More of the same, trying to convince a murdering psychopath to stop being a murdering psychopath by offering to be his friend.
In terms of wider international relations, the paper calls for a "more active dialogue on Cuba in [EU] trans-Atlantic relations" and with EU-friendly Latin American and Caribbean states. And it promises to put EU pressure on Washington to repeal the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, blocking US-Cuba trade
Deep in the article there's this little gem:
Czech NGO People in Need says Spain - which is bidding for new oil contracts in Cuban waters and has €2 billion a year in trade with the island - is mainly interested in money. The NGO believes the human rights dialogue and the prisoner gestures are fig leaves for more cynical interests.People may take issue with our approach, especially the Spanish, who are in my opinion, the most overly-sensitive group of people I'm come into contact with, but the facts are the facts. Spain is in bed with that murdering psychopath and therefore the well-being of that murdering psychopath and the status quo is of utmost importance to them, no matter how much soils the linens.
1 comment:
If the Spanish are hypersensitive--or hyperdefensive--it's only because they know they're guilty as charged. Of course they're not about to admit it, and they seem to think that if they act sufficiently offended, they'll somehow clear themselves. That will never work; it only makes them look worse, not to mention being an insult to our intelligence.
Actually, it's reminiscent of the routine reaction of the Cuban dictatorship anytime it's criticized: "Oh no, absolutely NOT. It's all malicious lies. We're pure as the driven snow. Totally blameless and upright. Those who say anything against us are just mercenaries or right-wing terrorists or mafiosi blah blah blah..." Really, if people are going to be SOBs, they should at least have enough class to be upfront about it.
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