How Canada-Cuba Relations Must Navigate the Dangers of the U.S. Embargo
Lead image by Jo Kassis / Pexels
By Luiz Leomil
The United States government it will allow companies to resell Venezuelan oil to Cuba amid a severe fuel shortage on the island. Earlier this year, the U.S. cut off oil shipments to Cuba from its main supplier, Venezuela, after American forces .
Cuba’s ambassador to Canada, Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz, recently told Canadian MPs on the House foreign affairs committee that the U.S. was “.” He was referring to the , which has become even more severe in recent weeks.
In his remarks, Diaz also urged Canada to follow through on a promised aid package to Cuba. Canadian officials have , which will be channelled through international aid organizations operating in Cuba.
This represents a modest and indirect commitment, especially in comparison with the initiatives undertaken by other countries. of direct humanitarian aid while continuing diplomatic talks on resuming oil supplies, and other countries in the are reportedly preparing similar, more tangible responses.
In January, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Davos, Switzerland, that many saw as an apt In it, he urged middle powers such as Canada to act with greater honesty and consistency, applying the same standards to allies and rivals so that states can co-exist in an international order that actually functions as advertised.
The Davos speech set high expectations. These are now, however, to the people of Cuba and in denouncing the most recent unlawful coercive measures imposed by the U.S.
Explaining restraint
Canada has crafted a longstanding image as one of the in the world. It also has . Canada was one of the few American allies to maintain diplomatic relations with Cuba following the 1959 revolution that overthrew the U.S.-backed regime.
Cuba is Canada’s , and Canada is the Cuba’s largest source of tourists as well as its second-largest source of direct investment. Canada is also among the that regularly vote in support of resolutions condemning the U.S. blockade.
However, three factors help explain the gap between the Canadian government’s rhetoric and its actions.
First, geopolitical constraints are significant. Like other middle powers, Canada’s freedom to act in open defiance of the U.S. is tightly limited. Canada’s fundamental economic and security interests are reliant on the U.S., and this is unlikely to change anytime soon.
Canada is open to a high risk of American retaliation if it chooses to aid Cuba. Such risk is even more heightened under the Trump government, which has demonstrated a willingness to use coercive measures against Canada.
Second, domestic politics shape foreign-policy choices. Contrary to simplified assumptions in classical international relations theory, state behaviour is not determined only by systemic incentives but also by domestic constituencies and how important particular issues are to segments of the population.
In Canada today, there is no broad public movement demanding robust government aid to Cuba. By contrast, there are vocal constituencies that keep assistance to that country politically salient and prioritized.
Third, officials in Global Affairs Canada have long favoured taking what they regard as a . That posture helps explain Canada’s reluctance to provide direct, high-profile assistance during acute shortages or crises.
Canada did not intervene during , for example. On the other hand, the same approach has also led Canada to be in Cuba, unlike its firmer stance toward the or governments.
This approach has generally allowed Canada to preserve a baseline level of diplomatic engagement and safeguard economic and strategic interests. In recent years, this posture has become partly institutionalized within Global Affairs Canada and is regarded as the most workable and sustainable policy line.
Aid by proxy, unfulfilled commitments
In recent years, Canada has preferred to send assistance to Cuba through , but these efforts are unlikely to be sustainable given the scale of the humanitarian needs the country may face.
It remains unclear whether Canada will adopt a more robust strategy, departing from this established approach, to support Cubans. While facing their own constraints, it’s more likely that , including Mexico, China and Brazil, will take action.
The outcome is twofold. Not only is the Canadian government failing to live up to a humanitarian image it has promoted on the world stage, but the international community also applauded a Davos speech that was both conflicting and somewhat disingenuous.
At times in his speech, Carney was realistic and incisive, exposing the weaknesses in the United States-led rules-based order. At key moments, however, Carney suggested that Canada still supported those rules and was willing to defend them through a more honest and equitable approach. Here, the tension between diagnosis and prescription was never resolved.
When it comes to the U.S. blockade of Cuba, Canada’s options are widely perceived as limited, and the country is seen as being forced to “,” as Carney said in Davos. However, the blockade also presents Canada with an opportunity to showcase how middle powers can chart their own course.
Carney also said middle powers have the “the capacity to stop pretending, to name reality, to build our strength at home and to act together.” If Canada continues to equivocate on Cuba, Carney’s speech will come to reflect a familiar pattern in Canadian foreign policy: rhetorical candour about global inequities combined with reluctance to challenge them.
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Luiz Leomil is a PhD candidate in political science at ÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ University.
This article is  from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. All photos provided by  from various from various sources.
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