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### Viewing cable 09HAVANA592, GOC SIGNALS "READINESS TO MOVE FORWARD"

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
09HAVANA592 | 2009-09-25 17:05 | 2010-12-16 21:09 | CONFIDENTIAL | US Interests Section Havana

`

    VZCZCXRO4752
    PP RUEHAO RUEHCD RUEHGA RUEHGD RUEHHA RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHMT RUEHNG
    RUEHNL RUEHQU RUEHRD RUEHRG RUEHRS RUEHTM RUEHVC
    DE RUEHUB #0592/01 2681739
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    P 251739Z SEP 09
    FM USINT HAVANA
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4792
    INFO RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS PRIORITY
    RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS PRIORITY
    RUEHUP/AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST PRIORITY
    RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 0093
    RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0050
    RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID PRIORITY 0159
    RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0027
    RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM PRIORITY 0006
    RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
    RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
    RUCOWCV/CCGDSEVEN MIAMI FL PRIORITY
    RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
    RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
    RHEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
    RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
    RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
    RHMFISS/FBI WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
    RUEAORC/US CUSTOMS AND BORDER PRO WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
    RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

` `

    C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 06 HAVANA 000592

    SENSITIVE
    SIPDIS

    DEPT FOR WHA/CCA
    DEPT FOR USAID/LAC

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/25/2019
    TAGS: PREL CASC EAID ETTC ODIP OEXC OFDP PHSA PHUM
    SNAR, AA
    SUBJECT: GOC SIGNALS "READINESS TO MOVE FORWARD"

    REF: A. A) HAVANA 511 ("USINT FOLLOW-UP ON MIGRATION
    TALKS")
    ¶B. B) HAVANA 512 ("BRITISH EMBASSY SEEKS TO BUILD
    CIVIL SOCIETY")
    ¶C. C) HAVANA 437 ("GOC RESPONDS TO TIP DESIGNATION")

    Classified By: Political Counselor Joaquin Monserrate for Reason 1.4(D)

    ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. Avowing a "readiness to move forward in our
    relationship," the Government of Cuba granted us
    unprecedented access to its state institutions during the
    visit of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Bisa Williams
    from September 16 to 22. To underscore the move, the GOC
    also offered the Mission quarterly consular access to jailed
    Cuban-Americans that we identified, and extended full
    diplomatic protections and multiple-entry visas to USINT's
    Marine Security Guards and temporary duty personnel. The
    country's leading opposition figures told DAS Williams that
    they were heartened by the increased lines of
    government-to-government communications and encouraged the
    United States to continue prying open these links. The key
    to normalizing relations, DAS Williams told the Cubans, was
    not to be found solely in the degree of bilateral engagement
    between the United States and Cuba, but in the Cuban
    Government,s efforts to engage its own people and to respond
    to their wishes. The visit included DAS Williams,
    participation in the United States - Cuba Direct Mail Talks
    held in Havana on September 18 (Septel), and took place
    during the much talked-about "Peace Without Borders" musical
    concert held on September 20. END SUMMARY.

    AN UNPRECEDENTED WEEK
    --------------------

    ¶2. (C) WHA Deputy Assistant Secretary Bisa Williams led the
    U.S. delegation to the Direct Mail Talks with Cuba on
    September 18. In the following four days, DAS Williams met
    with officials from the Foreign Relations, Justice,
    Agriculture, Health and Interior ministries, the Prosecutors'
    Office, the University of Havana, and local officials in the
    Province of Pinar del Rio. DAS Williams also held
    roundtables with the leading figures from Cuba's dissident
    and blogger communities, and with resident EU ambassadors.
    In addition, she was allowed to travel twice outside the
    Havana Province perimeter, to visit the Latin American School
    of Medicine and the areas hardest hit by hurricanes in 2008
    in the westernmost province of Pinar del Rio.

    "CONFIDENCE BUILDING" KEY TO MOVE FORWARD
    ------------------------------

    ¶3. (C) DAS Williams discussed the purpose and ramifications
    of her visit and the Mail Talks during an extended meeting
    with Vice Foreign Minister Dagoberto Rodriguez. They agreed
    that further "confidence building" was essential, and
    acknowledged the considerable work that lies ahead. When DAS
    Williams brought up the treatment of prisoners in Cuban
    jails, for instance, Rodriguez noted how dialogue on this
    would be possible but only with countries with which there is
    "sufficient confidence" and mutual respect. The same, he
    said, applied to scholarships and lifting reciprocal travel
    restrictions on U.S. diplomats in Cuba and Cuban diplomats in
    Washington, to name just two areas.

    ¶4. (C) VM Rodriguez seemed optimistic that things were
    moving in a positive direction. "We see a change in the
    rhetoric," he told Williams. "Even within the existing
    diplomatic constraints, we see a way forward." In granting

    HAVANA 00000592 002 OF 006

    almost all of DAS Williams' requests for Government of Cuba
    (GOC) meetings, "we meant to show our readiness to move
    forward in our relationship," he added.

    RELAXING RESTRICTIONS ON USINT
    ---------------------------

    ¶5. (C) At the meeting, VM Rodriguez announced that the GOC
    would grant the Mission, effective immediately, access to
    eight Cuban-Americans serving prison terms here (REF A),
    including those outside the confines of Havana Province, and
    extend diplomatic protections to our short and long-term
    temporary duty personnel, including granting them
    multiple-entry visas (Note: The GOC,s abrupt decision in
    2007 to stop issuing multiple-entry visas to the U.S. MSG
    detachment has been a bilateral point of contention as well
    as a serious morale and operational challenge for post . End
    Note). That is as far as it goes for now, the VM said.
    Acknowledging that the USG has already indicated readiness to
    move from authorized to notified travel for Cuban diplomats
    in Washington, Rodriguez said that more confidence-building
    would be required before the GOC would be willing to lift
    long-standing restrictions on travel by USINT personnel
    outside Havana.

    STILL WARY OF OUR HUMAN RIGHTS AGENDA
    ----------------------------

    ¶6. (C) Although VM Rodriguez said that the domestic travel
    restrictions had been placed in response to U.S. limits on
    Cuban diplomats in Washington, he complained about our
    emphasis on raising human rights wherever we go. "I would
    note that when those trips took place, they were only used
    for just one type of activity," he said, in reference to
    outreach to the island's political opposition. "Sometimes it
    seemed that the only purpose of the trip was to pursue that
    type of meeting." He went on to complain that "your policy
    until now has been that civil society is only made up of one
    type of people; Cuban civil society is much broader than
    these small circles."

    ¶7. (C) The Foreign Ministry repeatedly warned DAS Williams
    about meeting with leading dissident "criminals," and was
    especially sensitive to the idea that international media
    might portray such contact in a way that embarrasses the
    regime. VM Rodriguez showed no flexibility on the two
    specific human rights cases raised, requests for medical
    leave for prisoner of conscience XXXXXXXXXXXX and an
    exit permit for the wife of prisoner of conscience XXXXXXXXXXXX
    to travel to Spain for medical treatment.

    THE EU ON THE GROUND AND THE OPPOSITION
    ---------------------------------------------

    ¶8. (C) The Ambassadors of Sweden, Spain, the United Kingdom,
    Hungary, France and the EU charge, told DAS Williams at a
    roundtable meeting that the access of their visitors to the
    GOC was always conditioned on shunning the opposition. When
    they learned that Williams would see opposition anyway, they
    announced that they would protest the "double standard" and
    would begin to demand similar leeway for their visitors.

    ¶9. (C) The meeting with the EU countries exposed the
    divisions between those that place human rights at the top of
    their agenda, like Sweden and the UK, and those that do not,
    like Spain and France. Some in the latter camp, joined by
    the EU representative at the meeting, dismissed the
    dissidents in the same terms as the GOC, insisting that "they

    HAVANA 00000592 003 OF 006

    do not represent anyone." The UK Ambassador told us that the
    EU was so divided that they could not even agree upon a set
    of specific human rights benchmarks. (REF B) "It's not that
    we're not doing human rights," the EU rep replied, "but we
    want to trade and invest." The UK Ambassador told us on the
    side that potential visitors from countries interested in
    meeting with civil society (e.g., UK, Hungary) are undercut
    with the GOC by visits from EU countries who are not
    interested (e.g., Spain, France). The EU group was uniformly
    critical of the U.S. embargo on Cuba, yet they volunteered
    that the embargo gave the USG leverage with the GOC which the
    EU lacked.

    OPTIMISM IN THE CUBAN CIVIL SOCIETY
    -----------------------

    ¶10. (C) DAS Williams met separately with a broad range of
    civil society activists, including dissidents, former
    political prisoners, independent journalists and bloggers.
    Although scathing in their assessment of the GOC's intentions
    towards the United States, they all strongly supported
    continued government-to-government engagement and expressed
    great appreciation for the opportunity to meet with a
    visiting high-ranking U.S. official. "For the first time
    Cuba has an administration in the U.S. which is dealing
    intelligently and eschewing rhetoric," XXXXXXXXXXXX
    told us. They also urged patience.
    "The process of change is afoot, I know it will be slow, but
    the top is crumbling," XXXXXXXXXXXX stated.

    ¶11. (C/NF) The bloggers, who partly out of self-preservation
    do not want to be lumped in with the dissident community,
    were equally optimistic about the course of events. "An
    improvement in relations with the United States is absolutely
    necessary for democracy to emerge here," blogging pioneer and
    Time magazine's 100-most influential person XXXXXXXXXXXX
    told DAS Williams in her modest apartment. "Restrictions
    only hurt us," she added. "Do you know how much more we
    could do if we could use Pay Pal or purchase things on-line
    with a credit card?"

    POSSIBLE OPENING FOR ACADEMIC COOPERATION
    -----------------------------

    ¶12. (C) In DAS Williams, meetings with Cuban officials, the
    GOC criticized the USG,s "one-sided" approach to academic
    cooperation. VM Rodriguez said that, as confidence builds,
    the GOC would review whether to loosen its strict stance on
    U.S.-sponsored scholarships. "The key is what kind of
    relationship we have, it doesn't make sense to do
    scholarships now when relations are poor." He noted, however,
    that Cuba would prefer scholarships in the hard sciences, and
    in the past the USG had offered only social science courses.

    ¶13. (C) Despite this, DAS Williams, meeting at the
    University of Havana was positive, constructive, and frank,
    with a focus on learning from past failures and exploring
    avenues for future cooperation. The University was
    represented by the Vice Rector for International Relations,
    the Director of the Center for U.S. Studies, and other
    faculty and staff. The Vice Rector noted approvingly that
    this was the highest ranking U.S. visit ever to the
    University, and hoped that this indicated a positive change
    in posture towards academic cooperation. University
    officials appeared open to DAS Williams, suggestion that
    they invite USINT COM or other American speakers to the

    HAVANA 00000592 004 OF 006

    university to discuss topics of interest to students in an
    academic, symposium-like setting where there could be real
    give and take.

    EXPLAINING THE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
    -------------------------------

    ¶14. (C) DAS Williams told officials that the USG was
    concerned that Cuban students who had applied for the
    USG-offered scholarships were now being subjected to
    reprisals and discriminatory treatment at the university.
    She noted that although the university may not have
    sanctioned such treatment, we had credible reports of its
    occurrence. Responding, University officials denied reports
    of officially-sanctioned mistreatment of USG scholarship
    applicants. They said that the reason the students were
    prevented from accepting the scholarships stemmed from lack
    of advanced coordination with the University. Noting that
    the USG scholarship program was course credit-oriented and
    was not compatible with the University,s course structure
    which could not accommodate any lengthy absence during the
    academic year, the Vice Rector suggested that in the future
    we propose graduate-level research courses. University of
    Havana officials were surprised when DAS Williams noted that
    we had shared information with the Foreign Ministry regarding
    the proposed educational exchanges well in advance, forcing
    the a Foreign Ministry representative at the meeting to
    explain that the GOC had decided unilaterally as a matter of
    foreign policy that Cuban students would not be allowed to
    participate in the program.

    LAW ENFORCEMENT COOPERATION
    ---------------------------------------------

    ¶15. (C) The GOC pushed hard for increased law enforcement
    cooperation, especially in counternarcotics. The top drug
    fighter at the Interior Ministry, Colonel Jorge Samper,
    commented that bilateral cooperation was often one-sided, and
    that the GOC would like to be able to work more closely with
    the United States in sharing information about trafficking
    patterns in the region. Foreign Ministry officials told us
    that they would be submitting "next month at the latest" a
    proposal to increase cooperation in counter-narcotics
    trafficking, including money laundering. (Note: this is the
    same proposal that the Foreign Ministry promised to deliver
    the week after the Migration Talks in New York in July).

    ¶16. (C) The GOC also informed us that they had no objections
    to the voluntary repatriation of Amcit fugitive Luis Armando
    Pena Soltren who is wanted in the United States for hijacking
    an aircraft from the United States to Cuba in 1968. The
    GOC also received with obvious interest a request from the
    U.S. Department of Justice that Cuba provide evidence and
    witnesses in the case against XXXXXXXXXXXX, a request
    we made to the Foreign Ministry by diplomatic note during the
    visit.

    CHALLENGING OUR TIPS, TERRORISM AND HUMAN RIGHTS LISTS
    -------------------------------------

    ¶17. (C) DAS Williams told Justice and Foreign ministry
    officials that we were aware of the Cuban government,s
    dissatisfaction with their ranking in the U.S. reports on
    trafficking in persons and human rights. (REF C) She
    encouraged the GOC to meet with USINT officials to provide
    data relevant to both reports, stressing in particular that
    the trafficking report required information on prosecutions
    that we had been unable to verify. They bristled at the mere

    HAVANA 00000592 005 OF 006

    suggestion. "Nowhere in international law does it say that
    the U.S. should or can prepare a report on Cuba," the
    Director of the International Cooperation Division of the
    Justice Ministry stated. "With all due respect, we have no
    obligation to report anywhere except to the international
    bodies. When we get to the day of normalization, we could
    perhaps get to a point where we can discuss these things."

    ¶18. (C) On terrorism, the Cubans took a similar line. "What
    right do you have to judge other countries?" VM Rodriguez
    asked. "If we were to do our own list the U.S. would be
    there because in the United States there are thousands of
    Cubans who are truly terrorists." However, on terrorism the
    Cubans seemed slightly less reluctant to engage. DAS
    Williams stressed that removal from the sponsors of
    terrorism list would be possible if specific procedures were
    followed and she encouraged VFM Rodriguez to meet with COM
    Farrar to review the process. "You just told us to study how
    to get off the list without telling us how," Foreign
    Ministry's Director of the International Cooperation Josefina
    Vidal pleaded, leaving the door open to further discussions
    on this.

    U.S. FUGITIVES
    ----------------

    ¶19. (C) DAS Williams took the opportunity to press the
    Cubans on the over 100 fugitives believed to be resident in
    Cuba. She told Interior and Foreign Ministry officials that
    the issue would not go away and that we would continue to
    seek their return. Noting that similar Cuban requests were
    ignored in the early 1960s, Vidal quipped: "We have a long
    list ourselves."

    MAKING AN IMPACT IN THE HURRICANE IMPACT ZONE
    --------------------------------------

    ¶20. (C) DAS Williams got a chance to visit the worst-hit
    areas by hurricanes Ike and Gustav in 2008, in Cuba's
    westernmost province of Pinar del Rio. Unlike in 2008, when
    we were kept at arm's length by the GOC, the regional
    authorities received us warmly, giving us a detailed
    presentation of the damage and rebuilding work. The
    Venezuelans supplied roofing material -- "they send us one
    container after another, week after week," Provincial
    XXXXXXXXXXXX told us -- and even building a model 38-home neighborhood of aluminum-walled, steamy homes. Stiff and unsure of our intentions at first, the Chairman and his entourage became progressively affable as the visit went on, even riding in the USINT van with our delegation to encourage us to visit more often.

    THE MEDICAL SCHOOL
    --------------------

    ¶21. (C) Despite having repeatedly denied USINT permission to
    visit the Latin American Medical School (ELAM) just outside
    the limits of Havana Province, the GOC consented to DAS
    Williams' request. At ELAM, we met a half-dozen American
    students who enrolled in the six-year program through the
    U.S.-based Pastors for Peace program. They were enthusiastic
    with ELAM's focus on social work, and happy to see their
    country's representatives. They told us that they were
    unaware that USINT had been kept from visiting them at ELAM.
    The students had few complaints about the school, but at
    least one urged for assistance in easing the process of
    receiving funds from home. All of the students lamented that
    their academic study in Cuba does not qualify them to defer

    HAVANA 00000592 006 OF 006

    payment of their undergraduate student loans as they would
    have been able to if they had pursued medical training in the
    U.S. (Note: USINT Consular section will follow-up with CA on
    how to facilitate their ability to receive financial support
    from their parents in the U.S. End Note.)

    THE CONCERT
    -------------

    ¶22. (C) While the visit was taking place, another event
    --the "Peace Without Borders" concert organized by Colombian
    musician Juanes-- dominated the news. Cubans of all stripes
    read subtle messages everywhere, from the song selections to
    the statements proffered from the stage. What was unique was
    how universally praised the concert was here. Vice Foreign
    Minister Rodriguez and XXXXXXXXXXXX both agreed that the
    concert had turned a page in Cuban history. "The concert is
    a beginning, it's part of what are doing," Rodriguez said.

    COMMENT: TIME TO TAKE STOCK AND FOLLOW UP
    ---------------------------------------

    ¶23. (C) It is hard to overstate just how markedly improved
    were our dealings with the Cuban Government and GOC
    institutions during the Mail Talks and subsequent meetings of
    DAS Williams' visit. Whether this presages a true
    operational shift on the part of the GOC remains to be seen.
    What is clear is that the GOC is willing to fine-tune its
    adversarial stance if it sees it in its interest to do so.
    This presents us with enormous opportunities to set and
    influence the terms of our future exchanges (Septel). As we
    did during the visit, we will continue to press the point
    that the GOC engagement with the Cuban people will do more to
    influence the bilateral relationship than its
    government-to-government engagement. Nonetheless, there are
    a number of action items from the various meetings that
    provide opportunity for us to test the GOC,s willingness to
    continue to make progress on issues of interest.
    FARRAR

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