Involve the Cubans in the EU-Cuba-negotiation
By Antonio G. Rodiles and Erik Jennische
New Europe
 March 1, 2015  

Just a couple of days before Barack Obama and Raúl Castro announced in mid December that they would reestablish diplomatic relations, the Cuban government postponed negotiations on a bilateral political dialogue, cooperation and trade agreement with the EU. Havana understood that it would strengthen its position by establishing a new reality on the ground before entering into discussions with the EU on what aspects of human rights should be included in the agreement.

EU-Cuba negotiations will resume the first week in March. It is important to understand that the Cuban government will attempt to play the US and EU negotiators off against each other. The starting point for both the US and EU should therefor be to understand that their core objectives in the negotiations are the same; to promote respect for human rights coupled with a peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba. That is the essence of both the Helms-Burton legislation and the EU common position, both of which were established in 1996.

In order to achieve this, the first step should be to include Cuban citizens in the negotiation process. Human rights should be a centerpiece from the very beginning with the starting point being Article 25 of the ICCPR (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights). This gives every citizen “the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives”.

The Cuban government has never respected this right, but if the EU engages in negotiations with the Cuban government while excluding Cuban citizens, it will not respect the rights of the Cubans either. In order to avoid this, the EU needs to create a formal and transparent process so that Cuban civil society and political opposition can play a vital role in the negotiations.

The US negotiators have not chosen this path. Instead they cherry pick dissidents for different purposes. One day they invite a number of dissidents the majority of which are in favour of the US position being discussed at the time, and thenext day they invite another group, the majority of which is in favour of another US position. These meetings have no formal agenda, and there is no minutes published afterwards.  That methodology undermines the strength and independence of Cuban civil society and creates conflicts within. It is unclear what legitimacy these dissidents have at the meetings and who they represent? This methodology also excludes other parts of civil society that do not necessarily identify with the opposition or human rights movement, but nonetheless have important opinions on other parts of the agreement.

There is no point in working for the democratiation of Cuba if you don’t involve the Cubans. At the end of the day they constitute the ”demos” in democratization.

So what would a formal and transparent process look like? It should not be too different from any other process of developing a policy in the EU. The point is, to be clear about the topics being discussed while creating a formal channel through which civil society can voice their opinions.

On the portal “Your Voice in Europe” the EU Commission continously publishes topics that are up for consultation with EU-citizens. Why not publish the background for the negotiations and invite Cuban civil society to take part in the discussion? The policies would then be published for everyone to read, and the EEAS representative in Havana could invite the contributors to present their opinions.

A formal and transparent strategy would have many positive effects, in addition to strengthening the EU vis-à-vis the Cuban government. It would:

1.    Give legitimacy to actors in civil society and create structures of representation. The people writing will need to explain who they represent in order to have influence; for example the director of a human rights group, elected representatives of five churches in Matanzas, a founder of a campaign with 1000 signatories, members of a national LGBT-network etc.

2.    Empower civil society actors. If the EU opens up to them, they will need to study agreements which the EU has entered into with other countries - such as the Association Agreement with the countries of Central America - and formulate their demands in the correct way. They can then understand what space there is for civil society to cooperate with the EU when an agreement is signed, and how to take part in the implementation of the agreement.

3.    Create support for the final agreement in the civil society. If the EU signs an agreement with the Cuban government excluding civil society, a future democratic government’s responsibility towards it might be limited.

The democratisation of Cuba will never be the result of an agreement between the Cuban government the EU and the US. But if the actors within Cuban civil society are given the tools to act politically, and their human rights are respected by international actors, they will and can take their own responsibility to mobilize Cuban citizens for  a peaceful transition to democracy.

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