VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNC #0963 3441346
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091346Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY NICOSIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9410
INFO RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS

UNCLAS NICOSIA 000963 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CCA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EINV ETRD ETTC PREL CU CY
SUBJECT: CYPRUS: LIBERTAD ACT 
 
REF: STATE 126578 
 
(U) This cable is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Following is Post's response to Reftel questionnaire 
(answers keyed to questions). 
 
-- Has the host country, in Post's opinion, worked to promote the 
advancement of democracy and human rights in Cuba? 
 
No, the ROC has not worked to promote the advancement of democracy 
and human rights in Cuba.  Underpinning much of ROC foreign policy 
is desire for engagement and dialogue with recognized, sovereign 
governments regardless of their human rights record.  With current 
Cypriot Communist Party Secretary General Demetris Christofias now 
the ROC President, it is highly unlikely that Cyprus will demand 
that the Raul Castro regime improve treatment of dissidents, allow 
free speech, introduce economic liberalization, etc. 
 
-- Has the host country made public statements or undertaken other 
governmental actions, such as resolutions in the national assemblies 
condemning human rights abuses in Cuba; or actions in support of 
civil society in Cuba through host country's diplomatic missions or 
other fora? 
 
No, see above.  Cyprus, dating back to its days in the Non-aligned 
Movement, has enjoyed warm relations with Cuba, and has 
traditionally supported it in international fora like the United 
Nations. 
 
-- Have there been any high-level diplomatic visits between Cuba and 
the host country in the past six months? 
 
On September 29, immediately after meeting with Secretary Rice at 
UNGA, Cypriot Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou traveled to Havana 
for a two-day official visit.  His official program included 
meetings with Cuban Government and Communist Party officials, but no 
calls on dissidents or human rights activists.  In Havana, Kyprianou 
announced that Cyprus would open an embassy there in 2009 (Cypriot 
relations with Cuba are currently conducted from the ROC embassy in 
Mexico City). 
 
Kyprianou met with Cuba's Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque to 
discuss bilateral relations, the Cyprus problem and EU - Cuba 
relations.  During his stay in Cuba, Kyprianou also met the 
President of the Cuban National Assembly (ANPP), Minister for 
International Investment Marta Lomas, Deputy Minister for 
International Cooperation Yiliam Jimenez Exposito, and other 
officials. 
 
-- Did the host country offer or deliver humanitarian or other 
assistance to the Cuban people in the wake of the major damage 
caused by Hurricanes Gustav (August 30) and Ike (September 8)? 
 
Post is unaware of any such assistance. Most Cypriot foreign aid is 
disbursed in the Middle East and Africa. 
 
-- What is the nature of investments (and names, if known) that host 
country businesses have in Cuba?  What host country businesses 
participated in the Havana Trade Fair? 
 
The Central Bank of Cyprus has confirmed that the flow of investment 
from Cyprus to Cuba, and vice versa, was zero in 2007.  Stock 
investment from Cyprus to Cuba (by the end of 2007) remains around 
Euros 222,000 (USD 284,000).  Stock investment from Cuba to Cyprus 
by the end of 2007 remains nil. 
 
Christos Petsides, Director of Trade, at the Cyprus Chamber of 
Commerce and Industry (KEBE) also confirmed that KEBE had not been 
involved in sending any trade delegation to the Havana Trade Fair. 
 
-- Are there any bilateral trade agreements or other cooperative 
agreements between host country and Cuba? 
 
On December 8, 2008, Stavros Amvrosiou, Minister Plenipotentiary and 
Head of the Department of America at the MFA, confirmed that Cyprus 
had not signed any trade or other agreements with Cuba.  Amvrosiou 
also noted that he was not aware of any scholarships, in either 
direction, between Cuba and Cyprus. 
 
URBANCIC