Czech government wants EU to get tougher with Cuba

Support within the EU for a tougher stance on Cuba is strongest in the eight eastern European nations that joined the bloc in 2004 and where memories of the legacy of communism are still fresh.

Photo: Czech government wants EU to get tougher with Cuba

The Netherlands and Sweden also favor a tougher stance, but Spain is among countries that oppose it, officials said.

Czech officials said that not only have Europe's policies failed to foster a measure of democracy in Cuba, but the emergence of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been a boon for Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

A Castro ally, Chavez has called U.S. President George W. Bush an alcoholic, a terrorist and an imperialist. He has denounced the U.S.-led war in Iraq, and repeatedly accused the U.S. of trying to overthrow him to seize the South American country's vast oil reserves. Washington has denied it has any plans for an invasion.

Czech officials said they want the EU to provide more funding for civil society groups as it has done for Belarus, a country widely seen as flouting democracy.