Mr President, before beginning my two minutes of speaking time, and as a point of order, I would like to point out to the Presidency that there is an error in the transcribed text. In paragraph four of the Resolution there is a phrase missing, literally ‘which should be compatible with European Union doctrine on cooperation, respect for human rights and democracy’. This was the text agreed by all of the groups according to a document given to the Presidency by the spokesperson for international relations from the Group of the . And now, Mr President, I would like to begin my allotted intervention by pointing out that this resolution aims to tackle the problem of the devastation caused by hurricane Michelle, which has particularly affected three countries: Honduras, Nicaragua and Cuba. The effects of this disaster are exacerbated by the fact that the three countries in question have levels of poverty that I personally would call extreme. Given that a simple reference was made in the resolution to our recent visit to Nicaragua, in order to provide illustrative evidence of the situation in this country, I would like to point out that Nicaragua is currently the poorest country in Continental America. Fifty per cent of Nicaraguans live in conditions of poverty and 17% in conditions of extreme poverty – to be poor in Nicaragua means living on USD 1 per month. In macroeconomic terms, Nicaragua has foreign debt of USD 6 500 million, exports less than a third of what it imports and the country balances its payments and survives, ultimately, thanks to international aid and emigrants' remittances, particularly from the United States and Costa Rica. With regard to the situation in Cuba, on another delegation visit, I think we all will agree that the situation of that country is extremely gloomy. Cuba is currently surviving mostly thanks to emigrants' remittances and, secondly, tourism, which represent more than all other Cuban exports put together. This being the case, what the resolution is aiming to achieve is, first and foremost, to show solidarity with the communities affected and with the human victims of the consequences of this hurricane. Secondly, and I would like the Commissioner to take special note of this, I would like to express Parliament’s satisfaction with the actions of the Humanitarian Aid Office. Thirdly, I would ask that, in the case of Honduras and Nicaragua, estimated damages be considered within the framework of the Regional Programme for the Reconstruction of Central America. Given that we are talking about Nicaragua, there is an amendment tabled by the Socialist Group, and I would like to address the rapporteur here, which says that, as there have been misappropriations of funds – and we are referring to European funds here – certain action has to be taken. I personally took the trouble to call the Commission delegation in Nicaragua. I have a fax here in which they tell me that in no case has there been any proof, nor has there been any investigation into these funds, therefore it cannot be confirmed that there have been misappropriations. During the recent visit we discovered that these accusations had occurred at the same time as an election campaign, but there was no judicial decision in this respect. For this reason, it seems extremely reckless to me to make statements on this subject. Mr President, with regard to Cuba, the phrase we have added can be interpreted by the various political parties as they see fit. But when we say that we want a cooperation agreement to be reached in line with European doctrine, we mean to agree with what was stated in the Newens report and in the common position; that we will only reach a cooperation agreement when the Cuban regime makes significant progress in the improvement of respect for human rights and progresses towards a pluralist democracy. This is the doctrine of the European Union, which is implicitly expressed in this resolution.

Political group: PPE-DE