BRUSSELS , Belgium (Reuters) —The European Union is studying resuming contacts with Cuba, which were halted after a crackdown on dissidents on the communist-run island in 2003, diplomats said Monday.
Spain sent its foreign minister to Havana in April in a possible first step to thawing ties, but a number of EU states are wary of ending the freeze given persistent reports of human rights abuses and because it would irk the United States.
The EU resumed some lower-level contacts in 2005 but ties remain cool because of EU calls for the release of political prisoners, including the 75 detained and sentenced in 2003.
"The EU would be ready to resume a comprehensive and open political dialogue with the Cuban authorities in all topics of mutual interest with the aim of improving relations between the EU and Cuba," according to a draft EU statement that will be put to EU member states for debate in coming days.
"The EU is ready to definitely lift the measures adopted in 2003 in the perspective that such a comprehensive, open and fruitful political dialogue will be established," concluded the draft, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.
EU foreign ministers could examine the move as early as June 18 in an annual review of the situation, but diplomats said it was too early to say if all 27 EU states would agree.
"There is a very wide range of views so far," said one.
Backers of closer ties argue they would encourage Havana on the path to democratic reforms but others insist it would send the wrong signal to the Cuban leadership.
An EU official said he understood lifting the freeze on contacts could only be taken if all member states agreed.
Such a move would go down poorly with the United States, which has sought to isolate the island with a 45-year economic embargo.
"We do not want to see any weakening of the EU position vis-a-vis Cuba," said a U.S. official who declined to be named.
Aside from limiting official contacts, the EU from 2003 urged its diplomats to shun Cuban cultural events and invited dissidents to receptions at EU embassies in Havana, sparking a row with Cuba widely dubbed "cocktail wars".
Acting President Raul Castro took over the running of the government in July after his brother, Fidel Castro, underwent stomach surgery. The EU draft statement acknowledges there has been no recent improvement in Cuba's human rights record.
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