Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European commissioner for external relations, made a surprise stop-over in Cuba yesterday after a visit to Mexico and Argentina to discuss the state of bilateral relations with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez.
The EU normalised its relations with Cuba last year after Raúl Castro replaced his brother Fidel as president. A series of sanctions had been introduced in 2003 in response to the arrest of dozens of dissidents.
The EU intends to provide some €37 million in assistance to Cuba this year.
During her tour of Latin America, Ferrero-Waldner again called on the two sides in Honduras' constitutional crisis to resolve their differences through peaceful dialogue. She reiterated that the European Commission had suspended budgetary support to Honduras worth €65.5m for the period 2007-2010, although the actual suspension only affects €6.5m in funding that has already been committed but not disbursed.
Manuel Zelaya, the president who was deposed in a military coup on 28 June, arrived in a Nicaraguan town on the border with Honduras earlier today and is expected to make a second attempt to return to his country.
