Related videos:
The Cuban activist Carolina Barrero Ferrer urged the European Union (EU) to terminate the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA) with the regime in Havana, arguing that this instrument has become a mechanism for legitimizing and funding a repressive dictatorship allied with Russia.
In a lengthy article published this Sunday, Barrero argued that the ADPC —signed in 2016 under the leadership of then High Representative Federica Mogherini— marked the abandonment of the "Common Position" that for two decades conditioned European cooperation on the respect of human rights in Cuba.
Since then, the EU "renounced its moral coherence" and adopted a policy "of appeasement and complicity" with the regime, states the activist, president of the Citizenship and Freedom group.
The text comes just a few days after the European Parliament approved an amendment to the annual foreign policy report, in which for the first time Cuba is identified as a dictatorship allied with Moscow and Minsk.
Although that amendment has no legal effect, Barrero interpreted it as an unequivocal political signal: the beginning of the end of the European consensus that has protected the privileged relationship between Brussels and Havana for years.
"The European Union has warned that it has internalized an ideological exclusion mechanism by allowing the regime itself to decide who can be recognized as a representative of civil society."
In practice, the activist reported, European funds end up controlled by the Cuban state, without transparency or participation from independent organizations. "Repression has increased, political prisoners exceed a thousand, and European cooperation continues to flow. It's an immoral equation," summarized Barrero.
The activist, exiled in Spain, emphasized that the "opening" policy promoted by Raúl Castro was a carefully designed trap to restore the diminished international legitimacy of the regime without altering its authoritarian essence.
Europe fell for that illusion, driven by ideological and economic interests, particularly from Spain, a country that since the government of Pedro Sánchez has acted as the main supporter of the agreement and has forgiven billions of euros in debt to Havana, he explained.
"The colonial link has been reactivated, not to support the freedom of the Cuban people, but to strengthen their oppressors," Barrero stated, in one of the harshest phrases of his analysis.
The debate about the future of the ADPC is taking place against a backdrop of increasing diplomatic tension.
In recent months, MEPs and exile organizations have demanded that the EU suspend funding to the regime following evidence of the recruitment of thousands of Cubans as mercenaries in Russia's war against Ukraine.
According to Ukrainian intelligence services, between 1,000 and 20,000 Cubans are believed to have been incorporated into Russian forces since 2023. The allegations, supported by testimonies and international reports, indicate a direct involvement of Havana in Moscow's military efforts.
In this context, the author accused the EU of maintaining a "structural incoherence": while the Parliament recognizes Cuba as a risk actor for European security, the Commission and the Council continue the agreement that provides financial and political support to the regime.
The arrival in Havana of the new European ambassador Jens Urban in September 2025 has not changed Brussels' official stance.
The current High Representative, Kaja Kallas, argues that the ADPC is “a necessary channel for dialogue,” but this strategy —according to Barrero— has failed: it has neither released political prisoners, nor halted repression, nor strengthened civil society.
"The dilemma of Europe," the young woman concluded, "is both moral and strategic. It can continue to finance a dictatorship aligned with Russia, or it can act with coherence and principles. When Cuba begins its transition to freedom, it will be clear who chose inertia and who was on the right side of history."
Filed under: