Cuba deserves our vote of confidence, says Spanish foreign minister in interview
- Submitted by: manso
- International
- 12 / 28 / 2010
Excerpts from interview with Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jiménez published Sunday in the Spanish newspaper Público.
Q. Has Cuba satisfactorily kept its commitments to free the prisoners?
A. Cuba has given an extraordinarily important signal. The release of 54 political prisoners has an extraordinary relevance and I believe that we must continue to give our vote of confidence to the Cuban authorities, who said they were committed to free those persons – and have done so.
There are still about 11 persons who don't want to be freed because they want to remain in Cuba. We are talking through the Cuban Catholic Church to enable these persons, for humanitarian reasons, to be allowed to remain in their homeland.
Q. Do you understand why some of the freed prisoners who have arrived in Spain ask that the European Union's "common position" be left in place?
A. I want to make a difference between those who have arrived in our country and have maintained a critical attitude toward the [Spanish] government, which is a minority, and the rest. We respect everyone's opinions. It is the governments of the European nations who have to make a political evaluation of how Cuba can be helped to advance farther in the process of reforms announced by the Cuban authorities.
We already know what the results of isolation are. We believe that, with an attitude of dialogue, there are more chances to obtain things. Also, experience tells us that, in a country, changes begin to occur from the inside, not because of external pressure.
Q. Do Raúl Castro's latest words inspire confidence in you?
A. They must be taken very seriously. It is relevant that the leading authority has expressed the need and the urgency to make changes. Faced with that attitude, the international community should be conscious that the best we can do for the island is to support that process of reforms through dialogue and a greater opening to Cuba. The decision made by the E.U. is headed in that direction
Source: miamiherald.typepad.com/cuban_colada/2010/12/
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