Berlin - German diplomats have backed away from inviting Cuban dissidents to the same party as Havana officials, ending friction that began in 2003, the German news magazine Der Spiegel reported Saturday. Beginning in 2003, the German ambassador to Havana had sent invitations to both groups when throwing a German Unity Day party every October 3, Germany's national day.
Revolutionary leader Fidel Castro's government responded by boycotting the elaborate annual reception.
On Wednesday, the dissidents were not invited to the national day reception, Spiegel said. They were asked to come to a party a week later and the ambassador was no longer the person inviting them.
Numerous senior officials from the Havana ministries attended the German party as a result.
Spiegel quoted the German government's human-rights commissioner, Guenter Nooke, saying, "I hope the human-rights activists in Cuba don't interpret that as an attempt to stabilize the regime."
Volker Beck, the Greens parliamentary whip, accused Berlin of "kowtowing to Fidel Castro" and demanded an explanation of any changes to Germany's human-rights stance.
