Here is how it works: when dealing with the Cuban government DO NOT QUESTION THEIR HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD. That’s the lesson that Canada learned yesterday when Cuba “postponed” Canada’s junior foreign affairs minister’s trip to Cuba. Peter Kent,the minister of state for foreign affairs for the Americas, planned to press Cuba for democratic reforms and the release of political prisoners. Silly representatives of democracy… they should know by now that the communist dictators do not tolerate dissent, not even from foreigners. This visit would have been a historic event since Canada rarely sends government officials to the communist island.

Canada has officially maintained uninterrupted diplomatic relations with Cuba even after the communist revolution. Fidel Castro has visited Canada twice. Canada, a democracy that respects human rights, does extensive business with Cuba and, guess what? Cuba is still a communist dictatorship. Pardon my sarcasm but… what a surprise. Fifty years of supporting the Cuban revolution through trade and diplomatic recognition have contributed in keeping the Castro dictatorship in place. 22% of Cuban exports go to Canada and Canada sells oil and food to Cuba (as described here). More importantly, Canada is Cuba’s largest source of tourism revenue… so when we talk about the ineffectiveness of the US embargo, we can point to our neighbors to the north who have undermined our efforts to leverage the Castro government to reform its ways.

Some people never learn: if you subsidize tyranny, you get tyranny. I hope that the Canucks enjoyed 50 years of Cuban beaches, because I can guarantee you that the Cuban people did not enjoy one minute of it.

-AG