This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 001876 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT. FOR EUR/UBI, WHA/CCA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM CU NL
SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS/CUBA: DUTCH NGO AND TRADE UNION 
SUPPORT FOR CUBAN CIVIL SOCIETY 
 
REF: A. (A) STATE 152813 
 
     ¶B. (B) STATE 153312 
     ¶C. (C) THE HAGUE 1639 
 
¶1. As noted in Ref C, the Dutch government actively supports 
Cuban civil society and peaceful democratic opposition.  The 
Dutch consider their (bilateral and EU) objectives with 
regard to Cuba to be parallel to those of the U.S., but are 
sometimes wary of appearing too closely linked to specific 
U.S. activities.  As noted in Ref C, a number of Dutch NGOs 
support Cuban civil society and are working to hasten a 
post-Castro democratic Cuba.  Per requests in reftels A and 
B, the following is a list of Dutch NGOs and one trade union 
interested and/or already involved in these areas. 
 
PAX CHRISTI 
----------- 
 
¶2. Pax Christi's work helped raise awareness about Cuban 
human rights prior to the EU's toughening of policies toward 
Cuba.  Pax Christi supports the Plan Varela Campaign, a 
dissident-run petition drive to convince law-makers to put 
constitutional rights - which are currently ignored - into 
law.  Pax Christi has contact with the Cuban dissident 
movement Movimiento Cristiano Liberacion (MCL), which seeks 
to stimulate the democratization of the Cuban regime, and 
MCL-run magazine Vitral, which seeks to empower civil and 
political awareness in preparation for a democratic 
transition. 
 
CUBA FUTURO 
----------- 
 
¶3. Less than a year ago, several members of Pax Christi's 
Cuba team broke off to form Cuba Futuro, an organization 
devoted exclusively to Cuba's human rights situation and 
hastening a post-Castro democratic Cuba.  Cuba Futuro works 
to accomplish this by: denouncing Cuban human rights 
atrocities in public fora; providing political and moral 
support for Cuban civil society; and analyzing any domestic 
activities that may detract from hastening a post-Castro 
democratic Cuba.  Cuba Futuro also supports international 
efforts in France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, the Czech Republic 
(including through cooperation with "People in Need") and new 
EU member states to support Cuban civil society groups 
preparing for a democratic transition.  In the Netherlands, 
Cuba Futuro draws attention among tourists traveling to Cuba 
to human rights abuses (it co-organized a recent campaign at 
Schiphol airport), and promotes public debate about the 
ethics of maintaining a commercial relationship with Cuba 
which it believes may support the repressive regime.  Cuba 
Futuro also works with the like-minded Christian Trade Union 
Federation (see below) to draw attention to enterprises 
working with the Cuban government circumventing ILO 
standards.  Cuba Futuro hopes to keep up the efforts started 
in Pax Christi to convince European governments of the 
continuing need to maintain relationships with Cuban 
dissidents and a hard line toward the Cuban regime. 
 
HIVOS and NOVIB 
--------------- 
 
¶4. Dutch organizations Hivos (Humanist Institute for 
Cooperation with Developing Countries) and Novib (Dutch 
branch of Oxfam International), both of which receive a 
significant amount of Dutch official development funding, 
provide assistance to partner organizations in Cuba in the 
areas of culture, gender, HIV/AIDS, food safety, biodiversity 
and the environment.  While some NGOs have raised debate over 
the ethics of HIVOS and NOVIB assistance to Cuban NGOs which 
are linked to the regime, the GoNL views contributions 
through these groups as supporting civil society in that they 
support initiatives of the Cuban people to stand up for their 
own rights. 
 
¶5. Hivos provides financial and political support to twelve 
local partner organizations in Cuba, including agricultural, 
development, and cultural programs.  Novib funds through its 
Cuban NGOs Centro de Intercambio y Referencia Sobre and 
Centro Felix Varela, and Novib's joint Oxfam International 
program provides assistance to Asociacion Cubana de 
Produccion Animal, Asociacion Cubana de Tecnicos Agricolas y 
Forestales, Asociacion Nacional de Agriculores Pequenos, 
Centro Martin Luther King, and Grupo para el Desarrollo 
Integral de la Capital. 
 
Christian Trade Union Federation (CNV) 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. The Christian Trade Union Federation (CNV) has contacts 
with the CUTC trade union in Cuba.  It has subsidized the 
"organizational development" of CUTC, and currently sponsors 
the families of eight CUTC members in prison (for instance, 
it pays transportation costs for visiting family members). 
Domestically, the CNV has ongoing campaigns drawing public 
attention to the Cuban prisoners.  The CNV has staged 
demonstrations at the Cuban Embassy and has co-organized a 
campaign at Schiphol airport for tourists traveling to Cuba. 
Together with Cuba Futuro, the CNV has called on the GoNL to 
stop subsidizing companies that do business with Cuba, and 
has called on Dutch companies to forgo investments in Cuba. 
For more information, there are two websites listing CNV's 
actions: http://cuba.jouwpagina.nl, and www.cuba.web-log.nl. 
RUSSEL