Castro to EU: 'We don't need you'

HAVANA, Feb 2 (AFP) - Cuban President Fidel Castro thumbed his nose at the European Union late Tuesday, ridiculing the 25-nation body for temporarily suspending sanctions against the communist island nation.
"They are going to forgive us? For what crime? For what sin?" Castro, clad in his traditional olive-green fatigues, said in a speech before the World Literacy Congress here.
"Some people want to pardon us for a few little months, until June," he mocked. "Gentlemen, I must say in all honesty, Cuba has no need for the United States, and Cuba does not need Europe.
"I'm pleased to say that (Cuba) has learned to get along without them."
The European Union suspended diplomatic sanctions against Cuba, the only communist nation in the Americas, on Monday, easing a standoff triggered by Havana's 2003 clampdown on dissidents. But the EU vowed to maintain pressure on Castro.
The suspension, to be reviewed before July, was decided after Castro's regime released a number of dissidents and signaled a reopening of diplomatic contacts with EU embassies in Havana.
The decision will notably allow the resumption of high-level visits, although such trips must be used to push for improvements in human rights and the rights of dissidents in Cuba.
The EU froze relations with Cuba following a crackdown that saw 75 dissidents jailed for terms of between six and 28 years. Three Cubans found guilty of hijacking a ferry were executed.

02/02/2005 16:54 GMT - AFP