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Havana is urging Ottawa not to drop its public opposition to the decades-long U.S. embargo as Washington ramps up pressure on countries supporting Cuba.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe are confident that Canada will stay with us, as they have done in the past,\u201d Cuban Ambassador to Canada Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz told The Canadian Press.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe blockade and this intensification is, in practice, killing people.\u201d<\/p>\n
The United Nations is set to vote next week on a motion Cuba has put forward nearly every year since 1992. It calls for the termination of \u201cthe economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba.\u201d<\/p>\n
Canada has voted in favour of this motion multiple times.<\/p>\n
U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s administration has been trying to overthrow Cuba\u2019s Communist government through a de facto oil blockade. Washington cut off Venezuelan shipments in January and has threatened to impose tariffs on countries that sell oil to the island nation.<\/p>\n
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Washington claims Cuba poses a national security threat to the United States. Malmierca said the Caribbean nation is being collectively punished by an American pressure campaign that is harming the health and education of Cubans.<\/p>\n
An economic crisis has gripped Cuba since 2020, triggering critical shortages and severe blackouts that peaked after January\u2019s fuel blockade.<\/p>\n
Havana insists its economic struggles stem from six decades of American sanctions, but critics point to the inefficiency of its Communist regime. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say Cuba\u2019s government engages in arbitrary arrests, tortures political prisoners and limits media and political parties.<\/p>\n
Cuba produces only 40 per cent of the fuel it needs. Shortages have led to frequent blackouts that have threatened health care systems and crippled the island\u2019s economy. Air Canada and other airlines cancelled flights to Cuba in February because of shortages of aviation fuel.<\/p>\n
Ottawa has pledged to distribute $13 million in humanitarian aid for Cubans through international organizations \u2014 not the Cuban government. Past Canadian development funding has gone to things like solar panels aimed at making the island less reliant on foreign fuel.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tRamon Espinosa\/AP Photo via The Canadian Press\t\t\t\t<\/cite>
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\u201cThe people are resisting because we are convinced that the most valuable thing we have is the independence, the sovereignty of Cuba. And we are not going to surrender that,\u201d Malmierca said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe would like to have a normal relationship with the U.S. We are ready for dialogue.\u201d
Malmierca said countries that have supported Cuba have told Havana they\u2019re being warned by Washington their access to American trade or aid could be curbed if they continue supporting UN motions to end the blockade.<\/p>\n
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He said Cuba is \u201cnot naive\u201d and knows Canada is facing its own economic pressure from the Trump administration.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year is a particular moment because of all this aggressivity of the U.S. government against Cuba,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are in a kind of offensive with other countries, trying to exercise influence for them to change their votes. We know they are using threats.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Canadian Press asked the U.S. State Department for comment but didn\u2019t receive a response.<\/p>\n
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz this week urged countries to vote against the motion, dismissing it as a product of \u201c70 years of propaganda\u201d meant to distract from corruption in Havana. He said Washington has been lobbying European countries to vote against the motion.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not let them abuse your vote for their oppression,\u201d he said at a Monday event he hosted. \u201cDo not give in to this lie.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a statement, Global Affairs Canada said it is still pondering how it will vote on the UN motion next week.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAs with all UN resolutions, Canada\u2019s voting position is being considered in advance of the vote,\u201d wrote spokesperson Thida Ith.<\/p>\n
\u201cCanada continues to call for the Cuban government to implement needed reforms to respect the political and economic rights of the Cuban people, and to release all political prisoners.\u201d<\/p>\n
In July, Havana called for a UN debate on the American embargo in the context of the island\u2019s fuel crisis. Washington suggested it was a waste of resources to debate a motion that had already been debated nine months prior, and insisted that the decision to hold a debate be put to a recorded vote.<\/p>\n
The vote passed and a debate was held. Canada was among 30 countries that abstained from the motion on holding a debate.<\/p>\n
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