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Spain: Information on the protection available to Cuban refugees who have been granted asylum in Spain and who fear being targeted by Cuban government officials working in Spain

According to information provided by the Embassy of Spain in Ottawa, existing legislation implies that Spanish authorities, and the Ministry of the Interior in particular, can adopt special protection measures for special circumstances that require it (28 Apr. 1997).

The following information on a 1990 case involving a Cuban defector and Cuban officials in Spain is provided for your reference.

A source from the Cuban-American National Foundation stated in a 6 September 1991 telephone interview that a Cuban defector, living in a hotel under the protection of the Spanish police, was seized by Cuban agents who took advantage of a moment in which the police guard was being changed or was relaxed. The man was taken to the Cuban embassy and flown to Cuba, although during a technical stop in Canada the man managed to escape (ibid.).

According to a representative of the Asociacion por la Paz Continental (Asopazco) in Madrid, in addition to diplomatic consequences, the above-mentioned incident resulted in increased cooperation with, and protection of, Cuban refugees by Spanish authorities (6 Sept. 1991). There were no further incidents involving Cuban officials and refugees in Spain, and the Cuban embassy remained "very quiet" (ibid.).

A representative of the Cuban American National Foundation at its headquarters in Miami stated that this organization has not received any reports of problems between Cuban defectors or refugees and Cuban officials in Spain (28 April 1997).

The director of the Centro Cubano organization in Madrid, Spain, stated during a 30 April 1997 telephone interview that the 1990 case cited above turned out to be a Cuban vice-minister who had defected with US$600,000 of government money, and that his capture or kidnapping by Cuban agents was not successful. Since then, there have been no incidents between Cuban refugees and Cuban officials in Spain that the Centro Cubano, the main Cuban exile organization in Spain, is aware of (ibid.). The source stated that some Cuban exiles in Spain are quite certainly being observed by Cuban officials, and that some high-profile defectors are approached occasionally by Cuban officials who try to persuade them to return to Cuba, but no life-threatening situations are known by this source to be taking place in Spain (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Asociacion por la Paz Continental (Asopazco), Madrid. 6 September 1991. Telephone interview with director.

Centro Cubano, Madrid. 30 April 1997. Telephone interview with director.

Cuban American National Foundation, Miami. 28 April 1997. Telephone interview with representative.

Cuban American National Foundation (Exodus Project), Miami. 6 September 1991. Telephone interview with representative.

Embassy of Spain, Ottawa. 28 April 1997. Letter and information package received by the DIRB.

Additional Sources Consulted

Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Reports. Daily.

Human Rights in Cuba. 1995. USINS Information Package.

Keesing's Record of World Events [Cambridge]. Monthly.

Latinamerica Press [Lima]. Weekly.

Latin American Regional Reports: Central America & the Caribbean [London]. Monthly.

News from Americas Watch [New York]. Monthly.

Problèmes d'Amérique latine [Paris]. Quarterly.

Material from the Indexed Media Review (IMR) or country files containing articles and reports from diverse sources (primarily dailies and periodicals) from the Weekly Media Review.

Newspapers and periodicals pertaining to the appropriate region.

IRB, Internet, USINS and UNHCR databases.

On-line search of media sources.

Note:

    This list is not exhaustive. Country-specific books available in the Resource Centre are not included.