Letter writing campaign
Liberal Party caucus,
House of Commons, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Dear member of the Liberal Party caucus, House of Commons,
We write to you today from urgent concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Cuba. Canada can and must do more to assist the people of Cuba. We are: John Kirk, emeritus professor of Latin American Studies at Dalhousie University, and author and editor of several books about Cuba; and Jim Hodgson, retired now from 40 years of work among churches and NGOs in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Cuba.
We begin by reminding you of the Prime Minister’s remarks 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 rightfully lauded by observers who saw the speech as a commitment by Canada to stand up to the bullying behaviour of 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 response has been poor.
Canada and Cuba have important ties. In 1959 Progressive Conservative Prime Minister John Diefenbaker initiated diplomatic relations with revolutionary Cuba. Canada in 1962, along with Mexico, was the only country in the Western Hemisphere not to break relations with Cuba, despite massive pressure from Washington. In 1970, in a humanitarian gesture, Cuba was the only country willing to accept the FLQ terrorists—as a favour to Canada. In 1976 Pierre Trudeau became the first leader of a NATO country to visit Cuba. In 2000, Fidel Castro was invited by the family to be an honorary pallbearer at Trudeau’s funeral.
In more recent times Canada has been the most important country for Cuba’s economic ties. Sherritt International, the large mining/energy company based in Toronto and Fort Saskatchewan, is one of the largest investors in Cuba. Canadians are also the largest block of tourists to Cuba—42 per cent of all tourists last year (750,000). Before COVID-19 just over a million of us headed to Cuba’s beaches annually.
The US 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. Trump’s actions threaten the “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Cuba—key concepts in the Davos speech of Mr. Carney.
The impact of an illegal fuel blockade by the Trump administration has resulted in a massive humanitarian crisis on the island. There is very little fuel for anything. There are daily blackouts, and on three occasions recently the entire national grid collapsed. Water delivery, pumped by oil, is becoming increasingly scarce. Transportation is grinding to a halt. Food cannot be transported from the countryside to the cities. Factories have closed, as have universities. The much-vaunted public health system is in disarray. Some 96,000 Cubans (including 11,000 children) have had their surgery postponed, while 32,000 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 Trump’s increased sanctions against Cuba.
At the National Prayer Breakfast on March 24, Prime Minister 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, or roughly $1 per Cuban. By contrast the Mexican government has already sent three Navy shiploads of food. Their president has been outspoken, supporting Cuba’s political independence, and condemning U.S. policy. Why can’t Canada at least match what our CUSMA partner has done?
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 Trump recently noted, “Whether I free it, take it—I think I can do anything I want with it.”
Surely you must feel offended by such crude threats against a developing country—one that has long ties with Canada. At Davos he spoke about the “power of legitimacy, integrity and rules.” It is time for Canada to show some diplomatic backbone, providing material assistance to Cuba, while lobbying Washington to cease threatening this small island.
John Kirk, Halifax, N.S.
Jim Hodgson, Summerland, B.C.
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Information: List of Nova Scotia Liberal MP's:
Kod.Blois@parl.gc.ca braedon.
lenametlege.diab@parl.gc.ca je
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