Swedes get tough on Cuba

A diplomatic crisis has erupted between Stockholm and Havana, in large part over Cuba's abysmal human rights record:

The row began when Foreign Minister Carl Bildt gave a speech to the UN Human Rights Council, in which he criticized Cuba's human rights record.

Rodolfo Reyes Rodriguez, Cuba's delegate to the Human Rights Council, is quoted as having said that "Cuba, unlike Sweden, does not persecute migrants or carry out ethnic cleansing that only allows those whose skin and hair color fit with the racial patterns of former Viking conquerors to remain in the country".

Bildt issued a swift condemnation of Rodriguez' comments on Wednesday.

"It is completely unacceptable language."

This fight was started by the Swedes, and for good reason:

"When we put forward the view that respect for human freedoms and rights were lacking in Cuba, it led to a furious outburst from the Cuban ambassador about Sweden's blood, colonialism, imperialism, Vikings and oppression and so on and so forth. We have said that this is an unacceptable use of language," said Bildt.

"We'll see if the Cubans explain themselves. We have demanded an explanation and an apology but I'm not sure I have such high expectations of this Cuban regime," he added.

Bildt conceded that the situation was now so serious that it could be designated a diplomatic crisis.

"The UN has a responsibility to supervise respect for human rights and human freedoms. Both are rather restricted in Cuba and it is our duty to say so. It should not lead to the sort of hysterical attack on an entire nation such as that made by the Cubans," said Bildt.

The Cuban reaction, as crude and ridiculous as it was, is further evidence why it is imperative that the UN Human Rights Council reject a Havana-led effort to limit its authority.