Miami, United States. – The Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba (CTDC) called the European Union (EU) on Tuesday to reassess and suspend the Agreement for Political Dialogue and Cooperation (ADPC) between the regional bloc and the Cuban government “until Havana demonstrates concrete advances in human rights and democracy. ”
In A statement dated February 4the organization underlined its thanks to the government of Sweden for “Promote a review” of the agreementwhile stressing the need to “ensure that EU’s foreign policy remains aligned with the principles of democracy, human rights and rule of law.”
According to the Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba, although since its signature in 2016 and ratification in 2017 the ADPC was promoted as an instrument to promote development and cooperation, “the Cuban regime has instrumentalized this agreement to obtain economic benefits and Sell an image and narrative of modernization, without assuming real commitments. ” In addition, the entity emphasized that “reality demonstrates” a hardening of repression against activists and citizens, which described as “a deterioration of human rights” on the island.
In its argument, the Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba included three main axes that support the request to suspend or review the ADPC:
“Human rights deterioration”
The statement indicates that in Cuba “more than 1,400 political prisoners, including activists and journalists, remain imprisoned”, and that there has been a “systematic persecution and repression, with the documented use of torture against opponents.” The CTDC denounced the death of “around seven prisoners in 2024” and the existence of “more than 11,000 people” deprived of liberty, while condemning “the promulgation of repressive laws that restrict individual freedoms and judicialize the harassment of the police policy”.
“Failure of the economic model and improper use of international funds”
The CTDC criticized the “state monopoly of the economy through Gaesa” and the “repression against the private sector”, as well as the “diversion of resources towards militarization and opaque strategic alliances with Russia, China and Iran, to the detriment of well -being of the population ”. The statement qualifies Cuba as “a high -risk country for investors”, due to the constant breach of external debt payments.
Support for “authoritarian regimes and regional destabilization factors”
The text warns of the “strategic alliance with Russia and Belarus” and highlights the alleged “participation of Cuba in the aggression against Ukraine through the involvement of Cuban mercenaries”, who, as he indicates, “have not been tried in absenteeas established by the Criminal Code ”. In addition, the CTDC mentions the “complicit silence against serious human rights violations in China.”
According to the Council, “the ADPC has failed, in its current terms and execution, in the purpose of promoting political openness in Cuba,” because, instead of empowering civil society, “it has served to consolidate the power of the power of the power Government on society, and not from society about the government. ”
Regarding the measures that urgent, the CTDC specifies that, in addition to the temporary suspension of the agreement, “all future cooperation is conditioned to the fulfillment of democratic and economic standards and the transparency in the use of resources that directly benefit the and citizens. ” He also asks “to guarantee the participation of Cuban civil society in the negotiations and dialogues on the possible review of the agreement” and “support the proposal of the law of amnesty and decriminalization of dissent.”
The statement concludes with the confidence that “Sweden and the member countries of the European Commission adopt a firm and unified position in front of the Cuban State” in order to “achieve respect for human rights and a peaceful change to democracy in Cuba ”
