Wednesday, March 21, 2001

Kavan struggles after remarks on Cuba sanctions Foreign minister under criticism for U. S. embargo wording By Kate Swoger Foreign Minister Jan Kavan is in trouble with a superpower. Kavan's proposal to include criticism of the U.S. embargo against Cuba in a UN resolution on human rights violations in the communist island state prompted U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to take the unusual step of calling President Vaclav Havel to express concern. The minister's move has also irked Havel, Kavan's colleagues in Poland and Parliament's foreign affairs committee. "We could have avoided this controversy. It was unnecessary," said Senate Chairman Petr Pithart, whose negotiations with Cuban President Fidel Castro led to the release of Ivan Pilip, a former finance minister, and former Parliament member Jan Bubenik, jailed for speaking to anti-Castro dissidents. "To say that the human rights situation in Cuba is the result of the sanctions is not the whole truth, only part of the truth." Some Kavan rivals suggested he resign. Others questioned his motives, wondering why he would insist on modifying a UN resolution that would otherwise read much as it has when submitted by Prague and Warsaw in the last two years. "The way Czech politics have worked in the past, you always have to look for other motives," said Jiri Pehe, a political analyst at New York University in Prague. "If something is supposed to be based on high principles, but no good explanations are provided and there is strong opposition, usually there is something else behind it." Rudolf Kucera, director of Charles University's Institute of Political Studies, also wonders what is behind Kavan's proposal -- especially as it follows hard on the heels of the three-week detention of Pilip and Bubenik by Havana. The duo, funded by the U.S. pro-democracy think-tank Freedom House, were detained as alleged foreign agents. "The reason for all this remains unclear," Kucera said. "None of the possible explanations seem any good." Calls to Kavan's office were not returned. After Powell's call to Havel, Kavan told Parliament's foreign affairs committee that criticism of the U.S. embargo was necessary because the sanctions hurt only the poor. The embargo has become a propaganda tool for Castro's regime, he said. Kavan also shrugged off suggestions that he'd made a deal with Castro. He told the committee the government had not even planned to submit a resolution on Cuba this year, but did so to avoid making it seem it had struck a deal over the release of Pilip and Bubenik. Helping trade? But Kavan's words did not put the issue to rest. "Kavan is experienced enough to know that if the resolution is presented as planned, it won't go through," Pehe said. "I question whether this was his intention from the word go." He believes the Cuba brouhaha could benefit Kavan in two ways. He may be eyeing contracts for the Czech Republic to repair or upgrade aging industrial infrastructure in Cuba, much of it built by Czechoslovakia during its Communist era, Pehe said. And it could help endear him to the leftists in his Social Democratic party as it prepares to choose a new leader to replace outgoing Prime Minister Milos Zeman in April. Pehe fears it will also benefit Cuba. "The biggest danger is that the biggest winner in this will be Fidel Castro," Pehe said. "What he wants most of all is not to have any resolution passed." While Kucera doesn't think the move will have consequences for Kavan, he fears it will hurt the country's reputation. Poland has opted not to team up with the Czech Republic on the Cuba resolution, which it did in 1999 and 2000. "It damages the Czech Republic's image as a reliable ally," Kucera said. Pithart, a member of the Christian Democratic party, concurred. "It is important to act in a proper way and vote the same way as our allies," he said. "What happened caused a loud reaction from the U.S. A part of diplomacy should be conducted behind closed doors." The U.S. secretary of state called Havel on March 10 to complain over the resolution proposal, said Ladislav Spacek, the president's spokesman. "He and the president agreed that the wording of the resolution shouldn't be much different from last year," Spacek said. "The fact that Powell had to go this way, to make a public objection is very unusual, very rare." Havel sent a letter to Kavan, who responded in kind, but Spacek said the exchange was private. But there is little Havel can do to intervene. So far, Kavan's proposal doesn't appear to have helped ease already-tense relations between Prague and Havana. Pithart met with Cuban charge d'affaires David Paulovich on March 21 to discuss reviving the posting of ambassadors. "[Paulovich] said it was not the right time, especially in light of the resolution," Pithart said. -- With Petr Kaspar and wire reports. Kate Swoger's e-mail address is kswofer@praguepost.cz