Italian coaltion wants to link aid to Cuba with human rights

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Story Filed: Tuesday, May 07, 2002 1:28 PM EST

Rome, May 07, 2002 (EFE via COMTEX) -- Italy's Forza Italia (FI) rightist coalition said Tuesday that Italian aid to Cuba should be linked to the state of human rights on the Caribbean island.

FI legislative representative Maria Burani Procaccini was referring to a 17.5 million-euro loan to Cuba for projects like repairing irrigation systems and ensuring the safety of food supplies in the provinces of Havana and Granma.

According to Burani, the chairwoman of Italy's bicameral commission on infancy, "It's commendable to grant aid to any country with economic and social problems, but this aid should be linked to the beneficiaries' respect for human rights."

Burani expressed her conviction that the Cuban people's primary need is "freedom, which is more important than any agricultural development program."

"I hope the government is careful that this money doesn't wind up in the pockets of some party leader or 'maximum leader,' as has occurred too often in the past," she added.

The agreement for the loan was signed Monday in Rome by Italy's deputy foreign minister, Mario Baccini, and Cuba's deputy minister of economic cooperation, Rodrigo Malmierca.

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