AFP, Havana :The European Union and Cuba signed a deal to normalize relations, including an agreement on the delicate issue of human rights — a breakthrough just ahead of US President Barack Obama’s historic visit to the island.The agreement, the culmination of nearly two years of negotiations, is a further step toward ending the communist country’s status as a pariah in the West.It comes just as Obama prepares to put a capstone on the rapprochement he and Cuban President Raul Castro announced in December 2014, setting aside more than half a century of animosity rooted in the Cold War.”This is a historic step in our relationship,” said EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini at a signing ceremony in Havana.”The agreement marks the beginning of a new era in our bilateral relations,” she added, before heading to a meeting with Castro.Cuba was previously the only country in Latin America without an international cooperation deal with the 28-member bloc.The EU slapped sanctions on Cuba and suspended cooperation in 2003 over a crackdown on journalists and activists, and had since 1996 officially used its foreign policy to encourage human rights advances in the country.That so-called “common position” was vehemently rejected by Cuba as interference in its domestic affairs.The two sides said in a statement that it set the stage for relations based on “respect, reciprocity and shared interests.”The EU had said it was seeking a more constructive approach to engage Havana and persuade Castro’s government to sign a series of international human rights treaties.Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said the deal was the result of “a dynamic process that was not without complexity.”The agreement is a win-win deal, according to political analyst Joaquin Roy of the University of Miami.”Cuba gains in credibility and the EU casts off a weight because it never really gained anything with the ‘common position,'” he told AFP.The EU and Cuba began talks on restoring ties in April 2014, and had already reached a deal on trade.
