On February 10, interim NDP leader Don Davies stood in the House of Commons and challenged the Liberal government to take action against Donald Trump’s latest tightening of the US blockade against Cuba.
Davies noted that the US “has imposed an illegal blockade on Cuba for decades, crippling its economy and causing mass suffering to the Cuban people; now Donald Trump is cutting off fuel, risking humanitarian disaster.” He then asked if Mark Carney would “stay true to his words in Davos, uphold independent Canadian foreign policy, and support Cuba in the face of aggressive US imperialism.”
In response, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said that the government is “deeply concerned about deteriorating conditions in Cuba” and that consular official “stand ready to support Canadians in need.”
That’s right. In response to a question about a looming humanitarian disaster brought on by the deliberate policies of Donald Trump, the Canadian government said that its main – its only – concern was for Canadian tourists.
What a complete disgrace.
Anand should know that Trump’s January 29 executive order is a dangerous and illegal escalation that is designed to strangle Cuba by imposing a total blockade on its fuel supplies. She must realize that this latest act of economic warfare in a 65-year history of US aggression is driven by a singular goal: to destroy the Cuban Revolution that, 90 miles from US shores, proves workers can be in the driver’s seat and that another world – a non-capitalist world, a socialist world – is possible.
Surely, Anand recognizes that this policy constitutes a blatant violation of the sovereign right of nations to self-determination and development and will, as Davies had to remind her, create an acute humanitarian disaster. And there is no question that she understands that, by threatening punitive tariffs against any country that trades oil with Cuba, US imperialism is openly embracing blackmail, aiming to inflict extreme suffering on the Cuban people to force their political surrender.
Does Anita Anand know this? Of course she does.
She also knows that if Prime Minister Carney’s declaration at Davos, that it is time to stop accommodating coercion, has any meaning whatsoever, it is here. She must realize that Canada’s continued silence in the face of this brutal US aggression against Cuba exposes Carney’s rhetoric as resoundingly hollow.
After all, a truly “principled and pragmatic” foreign policy demands that Canada immediately and unequivocally condemn this act of economic terror, use all diplomatic means to oppose the US blockade, and strengthen trade and cooperation with Cuba to help it withstand this assault.
But instead of opposing the blockade which destroys the Cuban peoples’ lives, Anand worries about Canadian tourists’ comforts. Rather than taking action to strengthen trade – and Canada could start by shipping fuel to Havana – the Foreign Affairs Minister puts consular officials on standby.
This moment is critical, and it demands a coordinated response from the labour and people’s movements across Canada. For decades, the Cuban Revolution has demonstrated to the world the deepest internationalist solidarity, sending doctors and teachers to countless countries while enduring a criminal blockade.
Cuba urgently needs our solidarity more than ever. The defence of the Cuban Revolution is a global imperative, and our solidarity efforts must match the scale of this current threat. Now is the time to redouble our efforts to get the Canadian government to stand and defend Cuba’s sovereignty. Now is the time to affirm that people across Canada stand with Cuba against imperialist aggression.
Let Cuba Live!
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