MINISTER FOR Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has told his Cuban counterpart that Ireland remains opposed to the US embargo on the island and promised more help for the victims of last year’s Hurricane Gustav.
Mr Martin arrived in Havana on Tuesday evening for the first ever visit by an Irish Government Minister to Cuba, 10 years after diplomatic relations were established between the two countries.
During a meeting with Cuban foreign minister Felipe Pérez Roque, Mr Martin promised an extra $100,000 in aid to people made homeless by the hurricane. The two men discussed Cuba’s hopes of closer co-operation with the European Union after Spain assumes the rotating EU presidency next January.
Mr Martin had promised to raise Cuba’s record of human rights violations during the meeting but if he did so, it was during a private session with Mr Pérez Roque.
Asked afterwards about Cuban hopes for a thaw in relations with the US following the election of President Barack Obama, Mr Martin said that any move to lift its embargo was a decision for the US administration to make.
“Ireland, as part of the EU, believes that open dialogue is better for Cuba and better for its people,” he said.
Mr Martin was later due to visit Havana’s centre for genetic engineering and biotechnology, which has links with a number of Irish universities.
The Minister also planned to visit the Ernest Hemingway museum and to view an Irish piano-tuning project.
Irish tourists account for about 10,000 of the 2.5 million people who visit Cuba each year but both sides are encouraging further commercial and cultural links and Havana is due to host an Irish film festival later this year.