German official: Let's back Cuba

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called on the European Union to support reforms in Cuba. Speaking in Berlin on Monday, the minister said that the changes begun by Raúl Castro were "small developments and not merely gestures." According to the Deutsche Welle news service, he said that further progress depended on "whether we leave Cuba alone or we contribute to it, taking advantage of the opportunity." Next week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Lima, Peru, to participate in the E.U.-Latin American-Caribbean Summit that begins May 16. At that meeting, the lifting of the Union's sanctions against Cuba is bound to be a topic. Countries like Spain are in favor of rapprochement. The Czech Republic and other former communist states reject closer ties, citing human-rights violations.
---Renato Pérez Pizarro.