Europe puts Cuba pact on hold

From Herald Wire Services

``The steps that were expected from the Cuban side have not occurred,'' said Manuel Marin of Spain, acting vice president of the European Commission in charge of relations with Latin America.

The European Commission is expected to vote today to call off talks on a broad cooperation agreement that would have given President Fidel Castro's government moral and economic support in the face of a tightening U.S. embargo. An agenda for negotiations was to have been completed by June.

Marin said other contacts with Havana will continue, however, and the European body ``has not shut the door'' on Cuba.

In Havana, Cuba's Foreign Ministry released a written statement that said the announcement in Brussels was ``plagued with inaccuracies.''

Cuban Foreign Ministry spokesman Miguel Alfonso -- while confirming that negotiations for the cooperation agreement had been put on hold -- said dialogue between Cuba and the European Union ``continues and will continue at various levels.''

He cited a meeting Tuesday morning in Brussels between Cuba's deputy foreign minister, Isabel Allende, and the union's director general for Latin America, Jose Miguel Anacoreta, which Alfonso said was ``fruitful'' and conducted ``in an atmosphere of cordiality and respect.''

The European Union's proposal was conditioned on assurances from Cuba that it would respect the civil rights of its citizens, Marin said.

He said other conditions were Cuba's support of private enterprise, a transition to democratic government and return to the international community.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns praised the European Union's apparent decision not to proceed with a trade pact with Cuba.

``Cuba must be isolated,'' he said, ``and if the European Union has chosen to give up an accord on economic aid or cooperation, that's something positive.''