Offenbar ist der Deutsche Bernd Wulffen nicht der einzige Ex-Botschafter, den das Thema Kuba nicht mehr loslässt:

Paul Hare, Former British Ambassador to Cuba
The Odd Couple: The EU and Cuba 1996-2008

What has EU policy towards Cuba achieved? What might have been done differently? What lessons does EU policy offer for other countries in the context of a changing regime in Havana? Is foreign policy a key component in any peaceful transition in Cuba?

Zitat von Paul Hare

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The EU and Cuba
Few things are ever quite what they seem in Cuba policy. On 19 June 2008, the EU withdrew its June 2003 ‘sanctions’ imposed after the March 2003 crackdown on the Cuban dissident groups. The measures had been suspended since January 2005, following the release of 14 of the 75 arrested. In its June 2008 statement, the EU said they would re-evaluate the position in Cuba after 12 months depending on Cuban performance in areas like human rights and internet access, but the 2003 measures were finally lifted. Meanwhile, life goes on in Cuban jails for 55 of those sentenced in the crackdown along with some 200 others for political offences. Other harassment of those who disagree with the Cuban government remains commonplace. So why did the EU move as it did? Was the policy a failure and what will a new era of dialogue produce?
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The EU in Cuba: History will Absolve them
Those who question EU policy in Cuba often say it hasn’t produced the transition that many hope for. The tourism, investment and contacts have not changed the Cuban regime. This is true but foreign policy seldom produces changes on its own. The Cuban government retains formidable advantages which help maintain its control: nationalism, an island territory, its monopoly on information, the near total dependence of all Cubans on the state for income and services, and the safety valve of exile and emigration. The job of the EU in Cuba is far from complete. But it has made a start, it has shown decisiveness in pushing policies and in demonstrating an unusual even-handedness. In a little more than a decade the EU has produced an enduring presence on the island. It has been true to its principles and shown more unity than it has on other foreign policies issues. Overall, EU policy has ensured that Cuba has been more gradually and positively exposed to the benefits of economic and political openness than were the countries of Eastern Europe in the 1980s. The 2008 scenario is a new one but Raul Castro knows that the EU will be an influential piece in the jigsaw of the new Cuba. The EU experiment in Cuba foreign policy is one of the better instances of sustained critical engagement in the modern era.

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Die vollständige Abhandlung ist auf der Seite der Brookings Institution zu lesen