Citing financial and operational pressures from the escalating US economic war against Cuba, Canadian mining company Sherritt International has announced it is suspending its operations on the island. In response, the Canadian Network on Cuba issued the following statement calling on Ottawa to defend Canadian sovereignty by defying Washington’s blockade.
The Government of Canada must take immediate and decisive action in defense of Canadian sovereignty, international law and the right of Canadian companies to conduct lawful business free from foreign coercion and intimidation.
The latest escalation of the United States’ decades-long economic war against Cuba by the Trump administration – through its May 1, 2026 Executive Order – constitutes yet another illegal attempt to extend US domestic law beyond its borders and impose Washington’s unilateral sanctions regime on the entire world. This represents not merely an attack on Cuba, but a direct assault on Canada’s sovereignty, on international trade law and on the principle that no state has the right to dictate the economic relations of other nations. The consequences are already evident.
In the wake of the Executive Order, Canadian-based Sherritt International Corporation – one of the most important Canadian investors in Cuba and a key player in Canada’s critical minerals sector – announced the suspension of its direct participation in joint venture activities in Cuba, the repatriation of personnel, and warned that financial and operational pressures stemming from US sanctions may cripple its activities. The resignation of board members and the uncertainty now facing the corporation underscore the chilling effect of Washington’s campaign of economic intimidation. This is economic coercion of the highest order.
The United Nations General Assembly has condemned the US blockade against Cuba overwhelmingly and repeatedly for more than three decades. The blockade and its extraterritorial application violate the UN Charter, international law, freedom of navigation and trade, and the sovereign equality of states. Yet Washington continues to intensify this economic siege, now seeking to punish not only Cuba, but also Canadian companies, Canadian workers and Canadian economic interests.
The current escalation is rooted in the infamous Helms-Burton Act of 1996, legislation designed explicitly to internationalize the US blockade by threatening foreign corporations and governments that engage in lawful commerce with Cuba. At the time, Canada recognized the grave danger posed by this unprecedented assertion of extraterritorial jurisdiction and amended the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act (FEMA) precisely to counteract Helms-Burton and protect Canadian sovereignty.
The question now is simple and unavoidable: Will Ottawa finally enforce the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act?
Canada cannot continue to proclaim opposition to the blockade rhetorically at the United Nations while effectively capitulating to Washington’s illegal dictates in practice. The purpose of FEMA was not symbolic. It was enacted to shield Canadian corporations and citizens from precisely this type of US interference.
If the Canadian government fails to act now, FEMA becomes little more than a hollow gesture, and Canada effectively concedes that U. law supersedes Canadian law on Canadian soil.
Ottawa must therefore:
- Publicly denounce the Trump administration’s Executive Order as an illegal extraterritorial measure that violates international law and Canadian sovereignty;
- Immediately invoke and enforce the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act to protect Canadian corporations operating lawfully in Cuba;
- Provide legal, diplomatic, and financial protections to Canadian firms targeted by US sanctions;
- Coordinate with Mexico, the European Union, CARICOM nations and other states opposing the blockade to resist Washington’s unlawful coercive measures; and
- Reaffirm Canada’s longstanding opposition to the US blockade and demand its complete and unconditional end.
This issue extends beyond Cuba. If Canada accepts Washington’s ability to punish Canadian enterprises for engaging in lawful commerce with a third country, then Canada ceases to exercise meaningful economic sovereignty. Today it is Cuba. Tomorrow it could be any country or sector that falls afoul of US geopolitical objectives.
Moreover, the attack on Sherritt is particularly revealing. Sherritt operates strategically important nickel and cobalt refining capacity in Alberta – critical minerals essential to the global energy transition and North American industrial supply chains. The irony is staggering: while Washington speaks endlessly about securing critical mineral independence, its policies are actively undermining one of North America’s key refining operations because of its relationship with Cuba.
This demonstrates once again that the US blockade is not driven by “human rights” or “democracy,” but by the long-standing policy and campaign of economic warfare, sabotage and destabilization aimed at strangling Cuba regardless of the collateral damage inflicted internationally. Canada must choose whether it will defend its sovereignty and uphold international law, or whether it will permit itself to be subordinated to the extraterritorial dictates of a foreign power: whether to join empire or challenge it.
Silence and inaction are not neutrality. They amount to acquiescence.
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