Spanish daily urges EU to pressure Cuba

The influential Spanish newspaper El Pais – normally a left-of-center daily – has sided with hardliners who would like Spain and the European Union to pressure Raúl Castro into relaxing his control of society.
Here are excerpts from an editorial it published Sunday, titled "Repression in Cuba."
"Fidel Castro's replacement by his brother Raúl more than three years ago raised hopes of a softening in the Cuban dictatorship. It also raised expectations that a change in the island's rigid economic schemes might improve the lives of Cubans. The illusion grew with the arrival in power of Barack Obama, from whom a swift thawing of the 50-year cold war between both countries was expected.
"Nothing has happened according to the script of the best-intentioned people. Despite encouraging measures, the unfair and counterproductive U.S. embargo remains in place, the economic situation in Cuba worsens to critical extremes, and its political system remains implacable. A report from the nongovernmental U.S. organization Human Rights Watch this week verifies the full implementation of the police state. [...]
"Havana seems armor-plated in the face of international pressure. The Spanish government [...] wants to utilize its presidency of the European Union to soften that body's intransigence with Cuba for its permanent abuses in that field. In the light of HRW's diagnosis, it would not be improper to take advantage of such a springboard to sharply accentuate the absolutely necessary democratization of the Cuban regime."
For the entire editorial, in Spanish, click here. For background, read our previous items "Spain's two top parties…" (Nov. 21), "Granma denounces report…" (Nov.19), and "Cuba rejects HRW report" (Nov. 18).

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