France's Hollande calls for end to US embargo on Cuba trip

Yahoo – AFP, Sabine Wibaux, 11 May 2015

French President Francois Hollande speaks upon his arrival at Jose Marti

Airport in Havana, on May 10, 2015 (AFP Photo/Adalberto Roque)

Havana (AFP) - French President Francois Hollande called Monday for an end to the US embargo on Cuba during a historic visit to the island, the first by a Western leader since Washington and Havana moved to restore ties.

Speaking on the half-century embargo at the start of his Cuba trip, the first ever by a French leader, Hollande said France will do whatever possible to see that "the measures that have so badly harmed Cuba's development can finally be lifted, repealed."

Hollande said his trip came "at a particularly important but also uncertain time," as both the United States and the European Union seek to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba.

Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega (L) greets 

French President Francois Hollande (R)

 after receiving the Commander of the

 Legion of Honor Order, at the French 

embassy in Havana, on May 11, 2015

(AFP Photo/Adalberto Roque)

France will do what it can to "see that opening reaffirmed," he said in a speech at the University of Havana.

Since announcing in December that the United States and Cuba would move to renew ties after more than half a century, US President Barack Obama has used his executive authority to relax several aspects of the embargo, including restrictions on travel and sending money to the island.

He has called on Congress to lift the full embargo, in place since 1962, but with both houses under Republican control, he faces an uphill political battle.

Cuba says the embargo, which it refers to as "the blockade," has cost it more than $100 billion.

Call for 'opening'

Hollande, who was later due to meet Cuban President Raul Castro, also urged Cuba to open up its economy, saying there was vast interest in doing business with the island.

France is seeking to "be the first among European nations, and the first among Western nations, to be able to say to the Cubans that we will be at their side if they decide themselves to take needed steps toward opening up," he told reporters before arriving in Havana late Sunday.

Castro has presided over gradual economic and social reforms since taking over in 2006 from his older brother Fidel, the leader of the 1959 revolution that ousted dictator Fulgencio Batista and eventually made Cuba a one-party communist state.

Hollande's office has said he is available to meet with Fidel Castro as well, but Havana has not confirmed face-to-face talks.

The French leader hit again on the theme of "openness" as he bestowed France's highest honor on the head of the Catholic Church in Cuba, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, a key figure in the island's growing rapprochement with the West.

"You continue to stand for the opening of Cuba," he said, praising Ortega's role in mediating with Cuba's one-party communist government, including during the US rapprochement talks and negotiations for the release of some 130 political prisoners in 2010.

Hollande said on arrival in Havana that it filled him with "great emotion" to be the first French leader to visit Cuba since it gained independence in 1898.

Several agreements will be signed during the trip, though the details of the deals were not made public. Hollande said the accords would focus on improved access to Latin American markets.

The visit follows a meeting Sunday between Raul Castro and Pope Francis at the Vatican, where the Cuban leader thanked the pontiff for his role in brokering the historic detente between Havana and Washington.

French President Francois Hollande (C) confers with Rogelio Sierra (L), Cuba's 

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, upon arrival at Jose Marti Airport on May 10,

2015 in Havana (AFP Photo/Adalberto Roque)

Row over rights

In addition to economic issues, the trip is also a chance to discuss human rights. Activists have criticized Cuba's right record, accusing Havana of cracking down on dissidents and free press.

The European Union suspended relations with Cuba in 2003 over a crackdown on journalists and activists, but it opened talks to restore ties in April 2014 -- well before December's announcement of the US-Cuban thaw -- aiming to persuade Havana to improve its rights record.

France, which has made its relations with Latin America and the Caribbean a foreign policy priority, has along with the Netherlands been a strong supporter of the normalization of ties between Cuba and the 28-member EU.

French officials recognize the importance of the EU positioning itself politically and economically for when the US embargo is eventually lifted.

Trade between France and Cuba is modest, worth around $388 million a year, with the balance solidly in France's favor.

Hollande has already made stops in Saint-Barthelemy, Saint-Martin, Martinique and Guadeloupe and will end his five-day Caribbean tour in Haiti on Tuesday.