Row erupts as Cuba refuses entry to Spanish, Dutch lawmakers

MADRID (AFP) - A political row erupted after Spain and the Netherlands vehemently protested Cuba's refusal to grant entry to three parliamentary deputies who had arrived in Havana to meet Cuban dissidents.
Cuban authorities put Spanish deputy Jorge Moragas, who was travelling on a tourist visa, straight back on the plane on which he had arrived from Madrid.
Spain immediately summoned Cuban ambassador Isabel Allende to protest the removal of Moragas, external relations spokesman of the conservative opposition Popular Party.
"The Spanish government deems it unacceptable that Cuban authorities refused entry to Jorge Moragas, deputy of the Popular Party, refusing him access to consular officials in Havana," a foreign ministry statement said.
The Dutch government also expressed outrage after two Dutch deputies were similarly arrested and deported.
The Cuban authorities described the visits as "crude political provocation" calling Moragas a "staunch enemy of the Cuban revolution" who tried to enter the country "fraudulently and illegally, under the tourist immigration status."
Cuba accused him of seeking to enter the country to offer "support and solidarity" to US-backed dissidents there.
On arrival back in Madrid Moragas declared: "I am fine but those who are not are our Cuban friends."
He later told reporters: "I was expelled because the position of the European Union with regard to Cuba is being debated and the Spanish government is establishing a unilateral dialogue with Cuba to modify it."
Popular Party secretary general Angel Acebes accused Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of being "closer to the dictator than to the democrats who are fighting for freedom."
Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said the expulsion was "unacceptable", while urging the Popular Party to back Madrid's attempts to establish "dialogue with the Cuban authorities but, above all, deepen democracy with respect for human rights and individual freedoms."
The three deputies were thrown out of Cuba just days after Spain's ambassador to Havana said EU policy towards the Caribbean island state was ineffective.
A Dutch government spokeswoman said Cuba's envoy to the Netherlands would be summoned to explain why Boris Dittrich, head of the Liberal-Democrat group in the Dutch parliament, and Christian Democrat Kathleen Ferrier, were expelled.
They had been due to meet with prominent opposition figure Oswaldo Paya to discuss the state of human rights in Cuba.
Dittrich, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, said he would press Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot to cut the EU's diplomatic relations with Cuba to a strict minimum.
Cuban dissident leaders condemned the incident, which they said illustrated the ruthlessness of Fidel Castro's regime.
"This illustrates the intransigence of the Cuban government and shows that it will never change its position," said Marta Beatriz Roque, director of the Assembly for the Promotion of Civil Society.
"This should serve as the first lesson for the Zapatero government of what the Cuban regime is capable of," said Roque, who was among 75 dissidents jailed last year in a government crackdown but was freed on health grounds.
"It is infantile to think that you can provoke a change of position" through dialogue with Fidel Castro's regime, she said.
Another leading Cuban dissident, Vladimiro Roca, took the same view: "How can the Rodriguez Zapatero government try to recreate a relationship with Cuba under these conditions?"
Spain hopes to see a thaw in relations with Havana but its stance has sparked concern among Cuban dissidents and prompted protests from Spain's right-wing parties, including the Popular Party.
The EU last year slapped diplomatic sanctions on Havana after Cuban courts passed death sentences on three Cubans for attempting to flee to the United States and handed down heavy jail sentences to 75 dissidents.
Despite Madrid's anger at the expulsions, the external relations secretary of the ruling Socialists, Trinidad Jimenez, stressed the Popular Party "should have sought a visa in accordance with the political character of (Moragas') visit".