As Prime Minister Mark Carney outlined in his January Davos speech, Canadian values encompass “respect for human rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations.”
These are noble goals, and Mr. Carney’s words were lauded by observers who saw the speech as a commitment by Canada to stand up to the bullying behaviour of President Donald Trump. But the need to respect the necessary “rules and values” he espoused at Davos is being put to the test in Cuba. And so far, the Canadian government is failing.
At the National Prayer Breakfast on March 24, Mr. Carney spoke of generosity, but the Canadian government has provided only limited aid to Cuba’s population this year: just $8 million channeled through UN agencies, and a further $5.5 million to the Pan American Health Organization and World Food Program.
By contrast the Mexican government sent four Navy shiploads of food. President Claudia Sheinbaum has been outspoken, supporting Cuba’s political independence, and condemning U.S. policy. On April 18, she joined with leaders of Spain and Brazil to condemn any kind of military intervention and to support international law, humanitarian aid and Cuba’s sovereignty. This is the kind of middle-power initiative that Canada should support.
One glimmer of hope: on April 24, in the context of negotiations toward a new free trade pact with the United States, Ms Sheinbaum and Mr. Carney “exchanged views on ongoing efforts to support the Cuban people, including through co-ordination with international partners.”
At the same time, it’s important to keep an eye on what U.S. leaders are saying and doing.
Currently bogged down in Iran, Mr. Trump has nevertheless claimed that Cuba is next on his invasion list. On May 1, Mr. Trump issued a new executive order to strengthen already harsh U.S. sanctions, targeting Cuba’s energy, defence, metals, mining, financial services, and security sectors. A week later, those new sanctions appear to have driven one of Cuba’s largest foreign investors from the island as Sherritt International, a Canadian mining and power producer, suspended its operations in Cuba.
In January, Mr. Trump broke international law when he imposed a fuel blockade on the island. Media have documented the energy needs of Cuba, and the fact that—apart from one Russian oil tanker—there has not been any fuel delivered to the island in over three months.
The U.S. fuel blockade (condemned by United Nations human rights experts) has caused enormous harm to Cuba. It seeks to bring about regime change by starving the Cuban people into submission. Mr. Trump’s actions threaten the “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Cuba—key concepts in the Davos speech of Mr. Carney.
The much-vaunted public health system is in disarray. U.S. sanctions drove a 148% rise in Cuba’s infant mortality rate since 2018. Some 96,000 Cubans (including 11,000 children) have had their surgery postponed, while 12,000 pregnant women are unable to have ultrasound.
“Health should be protected at all costs and never be at the mercy of geopolitics, energy blackouts and power outages,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization on March 25. Meanwhile, over 100 British MPs signed a motion calling on the U.K. government to uphold international law and oppose increased U.S. sanctions against Cuba. And a group of 52 Democratic Party members of the U.S. Congress called on Mr. Trump to end the blockade, saying that the “maximum pressure” approach had failed and contributed to a grave humanitarian crisis in Cuba.
Canada and Cuba have important ties. In 1959, Progressive Conservative Prime Minister John Diefenbaker maintained diplomatic relations with revolutionary Cuba. In 1962, Canada and Mexico were the only countries in the Western Hemisphere not to break relations with Cuba, despite pressure from Washington. In 1976, Pierre Trudeau was the first leader of a NATO country to travel to Cuba. Canadians are also the largest block of tourists to Cuba. Before COVID-19, just over a million of us headed to Cuba’s beaches annually.
The need to respect “rules and values” espoused by the Prime Minister is now being challenged by U.S. threats to “take” the island, whether it is a “friendly takeover” or a brutal regime change operation. As Mr. Trump recently noted, “Whether I free it, take it—I think I can do anything I want with it.”
