European Union Strikes Deal with Cuba
European Union Strikes Deal with Cuba
The re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba is key for the EU and the U.S. to promote democratic and human rights issues further, points out AS/COA’s Alana Tummino
MIAMI — The European Union signed a historic deal with the Cuban government on Monday, a first-of-its-kind accord that sets the stage for increased trade, travel and diplomatic ties between the 28-country bloc and the isolated Caribbean island.
To reach the deal, however, the EU had to scrap a 20-year-old policy that required Cuba's communist government to improve its human rights record and change its one-party political system before any changes to the relationship could be made….
Alana Tummino, head of the Cuba working group at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas, said the same debate is now taking place over the EU deal. She said both deals were necessary since it's impossible to expect Cuba to listen to the U.S., the EU or any other government if they don't have any kind of relationship with Cuba to begin with.
“You need to have some basis of a relationship from which to launch those (human rights and democratic) dialogues and promote those issues further," Tummino said. "If you can establish more commercial ties, re-establish diplomatic relations and the flow of goods and people, then that puts them in a much better position to talk about those issues…."
