The leading role belongs to the Cubans

From
Havana                                                                          Read Spanish Version

The
leading role belongs to the Cubans

By
Manuel Alberto Ramy

There
are many who do not understand the magnificent relations between
Spain and Cuba, much less the role played by Spain in the resumption
of the dialogue and cooperation between Havana and the European
Union. They wonder what Spain and the EU gain with the recent signing
of the accord.

There
are others who disagree with Madrid’s policy and view its action —
taken in line with legitimate economic interests and a mid-range,
evident strategy — as a surrender to the Cuban government. These
people prefer a Spanish foreign policy that is captive to the narrow
interests represented by the Bush administration (a total failure)
and identical to the one proclaimed by the previous Popular Party
administration.

On
Monday, while reading the Spanish daily El País, I found an
interview that can explain to our readers Spain’s motivations toward
the island and our geographic region.

Trinidad
Jiménez, a Malagan lawyer with captivating eyes and concrete
answers, is Spain’s Secretary of State for Latin America, a kind of
Deputy Minister for our region.

"We
had very strong reasons to see a resumption of the dialogue between
the EU and Havana," she says, in answer to a question, adding
that "the resumption of the dialogue was an objective in
itself." That objective was fully achieved with the framework
accord signed on Oct. 23 (In my blog you will find my reports on the
accords and Louis Michel’s visit — in Spanish.)

"We
must understand clearly that the leading role belongs to the Cubans
themselves. To try to influence from outside entails great risk."
Translation: it is the Cubans who decide their fate and course and
negotiate with the EU; not Spain, who has been only the facilitator.
Therefore, the dialogue’s dynamics depend on Cuba’s attitude and a
lesser or greater flexibility (or realism) by Cuba’s European
counterparts.

Is
the Secretary of State naive? How sharp is she? A reading of the
lines in the hands of the island suggests an unrestricted adherence
to national sovereignty, therefore an immediate rejection of any
interference. That line is deep; it’s drawn with blood. Half a
century of intense struggle is a confirmation.

Aside
from that, the Spanish reading (accurate or not, time will tell)
seems to have detected signs of transformations in the discussion, of
momentary postponements, of a search for internal consensus that are
favorable to a transit — not transition — toward a model of
socialism that can overcome difficulties and that is "inclusive"
enough (a quality mentioned by Cuban Foreign Minister Pérez
Roque) to facilitate Cuba’s relations with the EU and Spain.
Otherwise, the relationship will be uncertain.

To
Trinidad Jiménez, "it would be illusory to expect that
the Cuban regime, 50 years old, will change in a few months."
That reading of the signs is easier: the processes promoted from the
inside of power structures are generally slow, zigzagging. And Cuba
is an overweight Caribbean alligator. It needs a structural diet, a
politico-administrative reordering, and agility in its institutional
musculature to adapt to the people’s needs, in addition to other
socialist forms of participation in the economy and the political
process.

Regarding
the role of his government toward Cuba and Latin America, Jiménez
was very explicit.

"Since
the 1990s, Spain’s net investment in the region has added up to 130
billion euros, more than 10 percent of our GNP. In most countries, we
are the leading foreign investor and we act in strategic, very
sensitive sectors."

To
those readers who wondered why Spain’s relations with Cuba were so
good (Spain is Cuba’s third trade partner and the first in the
European continent), the answer presupposes a clear perception of the
island’s role in our region, and the strength of the relations
already established, so a misstep has repercussions outside the
island, all the more so during the continental times in which we
live.

Important
and powerful countries in Latin America have solid political ties
with Cuba, in addition to the economic bonds. Others hope to
establish economic bases there. In short, Cuba is vital to Latin
America and Latin America is increasingly vital to Cuba. Spain is
seen as (and can be) the region’s door to the other side of the
Atlantic and could even participate somehow in the design of a
multipolar world where Latin America hopes to become a pole or part
of an embryonic pole. That is our right.

That
fact is so evident that Trinidad Jiménez, responding to a
question about the existence and role of the newborn South American
Union of Nations (Unasur), said: “If Unasur has demonstrated it is
a useful instrument, we must respect it and encourage the countries
that are part of it. If it is good for Latin America, it is good for
Spain.”

To
read the entire interview in El País, click below:

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/Seria/ilusorio/esperar/

Cuba/cambiase/meses/elpepiesp/20081027elpepinac

Manuel
Alberto Ramy is Havana bureau chief of Radio Progreso Alternativa and
editor of Progreso Semanal, the Spanish-language version of Progreso
Weekly.