BRUSSELS, Feb 3 (AFP) - Even a concession to Fidel Castro is rewarded with a "kick in the teeth", a US government official said Thursday, commenting on the Cuban leader's dismissive reaction to a decision by the European Union to ease sanctions against him.
Castro thumbed his nose at the EU, ridiculing the 25-nation body for temporarily suspending sanctions against his communist island nation.
"They are going to forgive us? For what crime? For what sin?" Castro asked, speaking in Havana. "I must say in all honesty, Cuba has no need for the United States, and Cuba does not need Europe.
"I'm pleased to say that (Cuba) has learned to get along without them."
Michael Kozak, a senior US State Department official, said here that his government had reservations about the wisdom of suspending the measures that the EU had taken.
"I saw Fidel Castro had a wonderful reaction to it," he said. "He is incredible. You can't ever even make a concession to him without getting kicked in the teeth."
The EU suspended diplomatic sanctions against Cuba on Monday, easing a standoff triggered by Havana's 2003 clampdown on dissidents. But the EU vowed to maintain pressure on Castro.
The suspension, to be reviewed before July, was decided after Castro's regime released a number of dissidents and signaled a reopening of diplomatic contacts with EU embassies in Havana.
The EU froze relations with Cuba following a crackdown that saw 75 dissidents jailed for terms of between six and 28 years. Three Cubans found guilty of hijacking a ferry were executed.
Kozak, acting assistant secretary for the bureau of democracy, human rights and labor in the State Department, was in Brussels consulting European officials on human rights questions ahead of a session of the UN rights commission in Geneva next month.
02/03/2005 20:56 GMT - AFP