VZCZCXRO2445
RR RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHLI #0008/01 0071106
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 071106Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY LISBON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8042
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA 0061
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LISBON 000008 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR, WHA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/06/2020 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV SOCI CU PO
SUBJECT: PORTUGAL: DEMARCHE ON EU ENGAGEMENT WITH CIVIL 
SOCIETY IN CUBA 
 
REF: A. STATE 131637 
     ¶B. 09 LISBON 582 
 
Classified By: Poleconoff Lucy Chang for reasons 1.4 (b,d) 
 
¶1. (C) Per Ref A, Poleconoff met January 6 with Joao Batista, 
senior Portuguese MFA official on Cuban affairs, to discuss 
U.S. Cuba policy and Portugal's bilateral relationship with 
Cuba.  Poleconoff briefed Batista on changes in U.S. policy 
and USINT outreach to civil society, and underscored the 
importance of EU engagement with the full range of Cuban 
society and continued support for improved human rights. 
Batista emphasized Portugal's post-hurricane humanitarian 
assistance over promotion of human rights in Cuba. 
 
¶2. (C) Bilateral relations with Cuba: Batista described the 
current state of Portugal's bilateral relationship with Cuba 
as "cordial" and non-problematic, but acknowledged some 
difficulties regarding Cuban payment for imports from 
Portuguese private companies.  He attributed these 
difficulties to Cuba's lack of hard currency and suggested 
that other countries were experiencing the same problem.  He 
noted that the Portuguese Secretary of State for Foreign 
Affairs and Cooperation visited Cuba in June 2009 at the 
invitation of the Cuban government to discuss the bilateral 
relationship, and signed an agreement with Cuba to resume 
cooperation based on non-interference in internal matters in 
accordance with a 2008 EU decision.  The cooperation focuses 
on post-hurricane humanitarian assistance, including food 
security, and education.  With regard to coordination of 
efforts with the USG on Portugal's bilateral relationship 
with Cuba, Batista highlighted the existing cooperation 
(although he could not identify any specific areas of 
cooperation with the USG aside from information-sharing) and 
suggested continued exchange of information on ways to better 
assist Cuba. 
 
¶3. (C) Assessment of the EU-Cuba dialogue: Batista remarked 
that it was too soon to see results, in practical terms, of 
the EU-Cuba dialogue in the area of human rights, but 
stressed that human rights is a recurrent theme raised in 
every discussion on Cuba and in the EU Common Position.  He 
said the EU attaches great importance to human rights and 
encourages broad engagement with governments as well as with 
civil society.  He pointed out that every EU trade agreement 
includes language on respect for human rights and the rule of 
law, but he also suggested that commercial engagement with 
Cuba and an improved standard of living could lead to 
improvement in the human rights situation. 
 
¶4. (C) Stance on the EU Common Position: Batista said the EU 
has yet to discuss and reach consensus on any changes to the 
EU Common Position on Cuba.  Moreover, he denied that Spain 
was advocating replacement of the EU Common Position with 
individual bilateral agreements.  He vaguely referred to 
Portugal's June 2009 agreement with Cuba as a "document" 
rather than as a "bilateral agreement" and stressed the 
"principle of sovereignty" underlying the agreement.  Batista 
said that Spain, as EU President, would seek to develop a 
better framework to enhance the relationship between EU and 
Cuba and to improve the lives of the Cuban people.  He 
reassured us that regardless of any changes, human rights 
issues would continue to be on the table in every ministerial 
on Cuba, and that Portugal would continue to raise human 
rights and the issue of release of political prisoners.  He 
commented that release of political prisoners, especially 
those in poor physical condition, is a high priority for the 
EU but that it is a "difficult issue" given Cuba's preemptive 
policy of detaining individuals before they have committed a 
crime and its treatment of political prisoners as common 
criminals. 
 
¶5. (C) Support for Cuban civil society: Batista was not aware 
of the extent of Portuguese engagement with Cuban civil 
society or the extent of outreach activities at its Havana 
mission, but noted that Portuguese diplomats can meet freely 
with members of the opposition and civil society leaders.  He 
imagined that outreach activities were limited in Cuba due to 
the size of Portugal's two-officer Embassy.  (He undertook to 
obtain additional information on the level and extent of 
engagement with Cuban civil society.)  He commented that some 
Portuguese missions have information centers, but did not 
know whether there was an information center or public 
internet access at the Portuguese Embassy in Cuba.  Portugal, 
in collaboration with other Lusophone countries, is currently 
discussing a proposal to establish a cultural center in Cuba 
that would be open to the public.  It is also providing 40 
 
LISBON 00000008  002 OF 002 
 
 
million euros for two years (2009 - 2010) for food security 
and agricultural projects to help Cuba recover from the 
hurricane.  The MFA's Institute for Development is funding a 
Portuguese NGO working in Cuba on agricultural projects. 
 
 
For more reporting from Embassy Lisbon and information about Portugal, 
please see our Intelink site: 
 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/portal:port ugal 
SWEENEY