The radical-left government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent a Canadian warship to Havana, Cuba this weekend, but critics told Breitbart News on Monday that the move was “morally and strategically unjustifiable” given the Castro regime’s close ties to Canada’s enemies.
“I believe this decision is an endorsement of the failures and inconsistencies of the prime minister’s Cuba foreign policy,” Michael Lima Cuadra, executive director of the Canadian human rights group Democratic Space, told Breitbart News.
Democratic spaceFounded by Cuban-Canadian academics, the organization focuses on pressuring the Canadian government, traditionally friendly to Cuba, to confront and condemn the human rights violations that the Communist Party committed against its people for more than half a century and continue to commit today.
Russian marines stand on the Russian Navy’s nuclear submarine Kazan (right), part of a Russian naval convoy visiting Cuba, as it monitors the Royal Canadian Navy’s (RCN) second Harry DeWolf-class patrol ship, HMCS Margaret Brooke, which arrived in Havana harbor on June 14, 2024. (Yamir Raj/AFP via Getty Images)
“Cuba is more repressive today than it was decades ago, has the highest number of political prisoners in the Americas, and its inner circle is [Russian President Vladimir] “President Putin is waging an asymmetric war against Ukraine – a diplomatic, military and propaganda campaign,” Lima Cuadra said.
On June 12, the Canadian Joint Operations Command announced that the Canadian Navy HMCS Margaret Brooke to Havana “in recognition of the longstanding bilateral relationship between Canada and Cuba.”
This is the first time the Royal Canadian Navy has visited Havana since 2016. After a successful deployment in the Caribbean, HMCS Margaret Brooke is docked in Havana on its return journey. pic.twitter.com/ghvT39YiXF
— Canadian Joint Operations Command (@CJOC_COIC) June 12, 2024
The Cuban government, marking 65 years under the strict Castro family rule, hosted a welcoming event for the ship on June 14 in what state television described as “an opportunity to celebrate and strengthen bilateral relations.”
“The arrival of the fleet in the Antilles’ largest capital is a testament to the quality of the 50th anniversary of cooperation between our two countries,” the Communist Party’s newspaper said. GrandmaIt was declared on Saturday.
The paper quoted Canadian Ambassador to Havana, Jeff Gartshore, as saying it was “a great honour for us” to be present for the ship’s arrival.
“We are extremely grateful for the warm welcome to the fleet,” he reportedly added.
The visit sparked widespread anger among Canadian conservatives, who noted that Trudeau has prioritized support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while Cuba is reportedly actively supporting Moscow and tricking its young people into fighting on its battlefields.
“While our military is starved for resources, Trudeau is spending defence budget money to send Canadian naval ships to Cuba alongside the Russian navy, glorifying Cuba’s brutal communist government,” said Conservative Leader Pierre Poirierbre. Said “It proves that I was not joking when I said I glorify a communist dictatorship – it is reckless, extreme and dangerous,” he said in a statement this weekend.
Conservative foreign policy chief Michael Chong MP said: Emphasized “Cuba and Russia are not Canada’s allies,” Trudeau said, pointing out his public admiration for the late dictator and mass murderer Fidel Castro.
“Do you remember when Prime Minister Trudeau visited Cuba in November 2016?” Chung said. I remembered“He publicly supported Communist leader Raul Castro and his chosen successor Miguel Diaz-Canel, called Cuba an ‘ally’ of Canada, and attempted to meet with Fidel Castro but was rebuffed.”
Castro died that year. departure The country is in his hands Executioner Prime Minister Trudeau responded to the news by praising Castro as a “legendary revolutionary.”
“Mr. Castro’s supporters and opponents alike recognized his great commitment and love for the Cuban people, as well as his deep and abiding affection for ‘El Comandante,'” Trudeau said, a patently false statement.
The Canadian government responded to the outrage by trying to reframe the visit as an attempt to gawk at Moscow rather than as a show of friendship and support for the Castro regime. Havana had another military guest last week: a Russian naval contingent with a nuclear submarine.
“The Canadian ships are visiting Havana to demonstrate Canada’s presence, naval power and commitment to safe and open waters of the Americas,” Defence Minister Bill Blair said. Said On Monday, he made statements that contradicted Ambassador Gartshore’s comments.
“This deployment sends a very clear message that Canada has a capable, deployable military and will not hesitate to do what is necessary to defend our national interests,” Blair said. Claimed“The Canadian military will continue to track Russian vessel movements and activities. Presence is a deterrent. We have been there.”
Prime Minister Blair maintained that he did not consider Cuba an ally of Canada. The Globe and Mail.
Human rights activist Lima Cuadra told Breitbart News that a friendly naval visit would necessarily show the world that Canada considers the repressive communist regime a friend.
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“This decision vindicates and actively cooperates with the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, whose Minister Alvaro Lopez Miera is on the U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions list for his role as a Red Beret in the crackdown on pro-democracy protests on July 11, 2021,” he explained. “Canada’s consistent, values-based foreign policy will take the same approach towards senior officials of the Cuban military and the Ministry of the Interior, as it did with Belarus.”
“It is neither morally nor strategically justifiable for the Canadian government to continue to consider Cuba an ally while encouraging tourism and investment in an island controlled by a regime that is actively collaborating with Russia in the war in Ukraine,” he concluded.
Orlando Gutierrez Voronat, coordinator of the Cuban Resistance Council, told Breitbart News that despite this weekend’s friendly visit, the Cuban government has made threats to Canada recently.
“Prime Minister Trudeau has decided to repay the Castro regime for its participation in directed energy attacks against Canadian diplomats and for sending Cuban troops to Ukraine at Russia’s behest by having the Canadian Navy fly the flag in honour of this brutal regime,” he said.
In 2019, Cuba was implicated in a mysterious series of incidents in which mostly American but some Canadian diplomats were recorded suffering from what appeared to be unexplained brain injuries. In January 2019, the Canadian government announced plans to reduce its diplomatic presence in Havana after 14 individuals were recorded on the island suffering from unexplained “concussion-like” symptoms.
The Castro regime, which completely denied the phenomenon, has yet to take any responsibility, whatever role it may have played in the mystery of the “Havana Syndrome”, whose origins remain unclear, as recent reports have used false evidence to blame Russia rather than the Cuban government.
