In Cuba, anti-Government protesters have been sentenced to lengthy jail terms of up to 30 years. Rosa Payá of the citizen initiative Cuba Decide said “sham trials of hundreds of protesters” even saw children aged 16 and 17 condemned to 18 years behind bars. She added the relationship the EU maintains with the island is “very concerning”.
The EU is understood to be Cuba’s second biggest trading partner, behind only Venezuela.
Ms Payá told Express.co.uk that where the island’s economy profits, its regime profits too.
She said: “[The Brussels bloc is] channelling funds to the Cuban regime… which is very concerning given what has taken place on the island.
“When we say the Cuban regime, we mean the top chief of the military – the Castro family, for instance, which is a major beneficiary of these transactions.”
These funds, Ms Payá added, are “being used for the repression of the Cuban people or in the corruption of the military conglomerate in Cuba”.
One of the most recent acts of relation-building saw Brussels sign into a Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement with Cuba in 2018.
This tied the two into “[deepening] their links by strengthening their political dialogue, cooperation and economic and trade relations, in a spirit of mutual respect and equality”.
It also saw them reaffirm “their respect for universal human rights”.
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But Ms Payá stressed Britain, outside of the EU, is now in a perfect position to pursue its own approach to Cuba which supports the people of the island rather than its regime.
The Cooperation Agreement also reaffirms the EU’s respect for the “political independence” of Cuba, though the recent invasion of Ukraine by Russia has brought to the fore the island’s connections to the Kremlin.
Vladimir Putin has threatened to deploy Russian troops to Cuba if the US acted in a manner of which he disapproved.
Ms Payá also noted the Cuban intelligence apparatus “has played the role of the operator and the gateway of Russia in the whole region” for some time.
The campaigner insisted the EU must do more than offer words in support of the Cuban people, as it does through its Cooperation Agreement.
She told Express.co.uk: “It is a reality that when we ask for actions and solidarity, we are not just asking for an altruistic gesture.
“We are asking for protection.”
Express.co.uk has contacted representatives of the EU Commission for comment.
