MADRID -- (AP) -- Hoping that the European Union will join in its toughening attitude toward Cuban President Fidel Castro, Spain's conservative government is pressing the EU to stop channeling aid through the Havana government.
At a meeting today in Brussels, Spain will call on EU members to funnel aid through charities, the Roman Catholic Church, Amnesty International and other nongovernmental groups, instead of through the Castro government, the Foreign Ministry said.
It also will call on EU nations to press Cuba to improve its human rights record, said a Foreign Ministry spokesman who cannot be identified under briefing rules.
``There has indeed been a change in Spain's political attitude toward the government of Cuba,'' the spokesman said of the toughening stance since conservative Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar took office in May after 13 years of Socialist governments.
But the spokesman said Spain, whose businesses are among the leading foreign investors in Cuba, ``has not changed its economic policy'' of supporting private investment in Cuba.
The ministry said there was no truth to a report Wednesday in Spain's largest daily, El Pais, that Spain would press the EU to cut off all aid and credits to Cuba.
``Spain will tell the EU to keep two things in mind while maintaining contact with Cuba: to try to get Cuba to respect human rights and improve its record in that area, and to channel aid via nongovernmental organizations,'' the spokesman said.
``We will continue to give money for schools, help develop capacity for potable water, and so forth,'' he said. ``But such things as powdered milk for children, for example, could be distributed by charities rather than Cuba's Education Ministry.''
Aznar, at the Ibero-American summit in Chile this week, called on Cuba to move toward democracy while also criticizing U.S. attempts to isolate Cuba.
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