A driver refuels as others wait in a long line to fill up at a gas station in Havana.Ramon Espinosa/The Associated Press
With the suffering in Cuba growing, the calls are getting louder for Canada to take action. The situation in Cuba is truly tragic, but Canada needs to tread carefully to make sure that attempts to help don’t end up harming the Cuban people.
Donald Trump’s government has cut oil supplies from Venezuela to the island, and he has threatened other countries with tariffs if they send oil. People are facing worsening shortages of food and medicine, and fuel shortages are leading to extensive blackouts and interrupting care at hospitals.
However, Canadians should be clear minded: We shouldn’t let our compassion for the Cuban people – and distaste for the Trump government – create sympathy for the ruthless Cuban dictatorship.
Canadians who visit Cuban resorts tend to remain shielded from the realities of daily life there, and some Canadians have a blind spot about the brutality of the regime. But make no mistake: The day the Cuban regime falls will be a great day, especially for the long-suffering Cuban people.
The communist government under Miguel Díaz-Canel punishes virtually all forms of dissent and public criticism, arbitrarily detaining, harassing and torturing activists and political opponents. The regime controls virtually all media. Out of desperation, more than a million Cubans have left the country to seek better lives.
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Many groups are pressing Canada to supply aid, but often, these proposals are misguided. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, for example, is calling for Canada to send oil to Cuba, and suggests donating heavy crude to Cuba’s state-run oil company, CUPET. This unwise idea would amount to implicit assistance to the Cuban government, and unnecessarily anger the U.S.
Meanwhile, some advocacy groups are trying to ramp up shipments of medical aid and food. But when goods are delivered to local Cuban governments, it also bolsters the regime.
Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s Minister for U.S. Trade and Intergovernmental Affairs, has indicated that an announcement on providing humanitarian aid to Cuba in partnership with Mexico is coming soon. Instead of government-to-government aid, any assistance from Canada should be given through trusted international aid organizations. Canada provided funding to Unicef for emergency aid in 2024 after two hurricanes struck Cuba. That model is better, as it helps the people while avoiding propping up the government.
Skepticism about the Cuban government doesn’t mean Canada needs to line up with the increasingly aggressive American government. Canada has for decades maintained an independent policy on Cuba from the Americans. That should continue.
A U.S. military intervention in Cuba could be on the horizon. After the U.S. captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, Marco Rubio, the Cuban-American Secretary of State who is known for his opposition to the island nation’s dictatorship, hinted that if he lived in Havana and was in the government, he’d be “concerned.”
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While nobody should wish for the continuance of Cuba’s Communist government, a quick look at the history of American-led regime change reminds us that the chances of a stable democratic government taking root are extremely slim. A military intervention in Cuba would likely repeat the pattern. The idea that the Trump government is fuelled by a genuine desire for democracy while it brazenly attacks democratic structures at home is hard to swallow.
A poorly thought out military campaign could end up playing into the hands of the Cuban government, which has a long history of using the American embargo as a pretext for repression and a way to gain sympathy from governments that might otherwise condemn its abuses.
Military action in Cuba would be another overreach by the U.S., which is seeking to control the Western hemisphere under its “Donroe Doctrine.” The threats to slap tariffs on countries that trade with Cuba are another inappropriate attempt to undermine the sovereignty of other countries.
The future of Cuba should be up to the Cuban people. There might be a moment down the road when Canada can play a greater role – in 2014, for example, Canada helped Cuba and the administration of Barack Obama thaw relations. Hopefully one day, the people of Cuba are able to determine their own destiny, free of both the Communist regime and American interference.