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Spanish FM has no plans to meet Castro during Cuba visit

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MADRID, April 2 (RIA Novosti) - Spain's foreign minister, who is due to visit Cuba April 2-3, intends to meet neither with Fidel Castro nor with Cuban dissidents, a ministry source told Spanish National Radio Monday.

"[Miguel Angel] Moratinos will conduct negotiations with his counterpart, Felipe Perez Roque, and Vice President Carlos Lage, and he may also meet with Raul Castro, the acting head of the republic," the source said.

But he said "a meeting with Fidel has been ruled out," nor does the program of the visit include meetings with representatives of the Cuban opposition.

He said Spanish-Cuban negotiations will focus on Cuba's internal situation and bilateral economic relations, adding that an agreement on mutual protection of capital investment and restructuring of Cuba's debt to Spain (about 1 billion euros) will be signed.

But a number of Spanish right-leaning political parties, human rights organizations, and associations of Cuban dissidents have urged Moratinos to exert strong pressure on the Cuban leadership to secure the release of dissidents and implement democratic reforms in Cuba.

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