The Diplomat in Spain

Robles and Núñez during the signing of the association framework/. Photo: Cuban Embassy

Eduardo González. Madrid

The new historical phase inaugurated in Cuba following the restoration of diplomatic relations with the United States could justify a “reflection” on the policy followed by Spanish cooperation, which has always been present on the island “even at the worst of times”.

So it was expressed on Thursday by the secretary general for International Cooperation for Development and director of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECID, in Spanish), Gonzalo Robles, during an informal meeting with the media, The Diplomat in Spain, during a pause in the presentation event dedicated to reviewing 25 years of Spanish cooperation in Latin American and the Caribbean, celebrated at the Agency’s headquarters in Madrid.

According to Robles, recent new son Cuba has surprised the whole world, including the Spanish Government, but, in any case, can be a great opportunity to carry out a “new reflections” on Spanish cooperation in the Caribbean country, which has gone through tough times in past years, such as the closure of the Spanish Cultural Centre, ordered by the Castro Government in 2003 in response to pressure exerted by former Spanish President José María Aznar.

In any case, according to the secretary general, Spanish cooperation has been present on the island “even at the worst of times”. The Technical Office of Cooperation (TOC) in Cuba operates though “all the instruments of cooperation”, from that delegated by the EU, to the bilateral, through programmes of water and sanitation, social and rural development, environmental sustainability, food security (possibly the “strongest” bet, according to Robles), among others; active multilateralism, through AECID-PNUD, OEI-AECID and the Millennium Objectives funds, and from other initiatives; or though the collaboration with NGODs through agreements, projects and physical presence in the Caribbean country.

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The Island is among the priority countries for the IV Director Plan 2013-2016

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At the end of June, Gonzalo Robles and the Cuban deputy Minister for Foreign Commerce and External Investment, Ileana Núñez, signed the bilateral cooperation for development framework agreement, in Madrid.

The IV Director Plan for Spanish Cooperation (2013-2016) considers Cuba “Association Country”, which places it among the “priority countries for Spanish Cooperation”. Priority sectors that are being worked on in Spanish cooperation, according to the AECID, include rural development, climate change, the habitat, education, culture and development, included in a transversal manner “in each and every one of the development interventions that have been carried out”.