EU to decide Cuban sanctions on Monday

Caracas, Venezuela, 15 June 2008. The European Union will gather tomorrow in Luxembourg  to decide on the continuation of sanctions on Cuba amid recent political changes.EU sanctions were imposed in 2003 after 77 political dissidents were jailed by Fidel Castro government.

Even though sanctions were frozen in 2005, EU members struggle to take a final decision over their removal. Now, most EU members agreed it is time for a change. Slovenian government has drafted a proposal for EU consideration. However, Czech Republic is still reluctant to allow a revision of the policy towards Cuba.   A similar attempt to revise the EU policy towards Cuba failed last year. Local Cuban opposition opposes the lifting of sanctions as it would benefit the government.

Sources: unionradio, Globovision,