Ottawa, October 15, 2026. — Cuba’s Ambassador to Canada, Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz, highlighted the island’s longstanding commitment to defending international peace during a meeting organized by the Ottawa Peace Council and Ottawa Cuban Connections to reflect on Cuba’s role in promoting peace around the world.
In his remarks, the diplomat thanked Canadian friends and supporters from other parts of the world for their expressions of solidarity, which, he said, provide important encouragement to the Cuban people in the face of the “difficult challenges” they are confronting.
Malmierca Díaz argued that peace cannot be reduced to the absence of armed conflict or to silence imposed by force. “True peace is a structural concept, rooted in respect for the sovereignty of peoples,” he stated, emphasizing that colonialism, inequality, and dispossession remain obstacles to its consolidation.
Commemorating the centenary of Fidel Castro’s birth, the ambassador quoted the words spoken by the Cuban leader before the United Nations General Assembly in 1960: “Let the philosophy of plunder cease, and the philosophy of war will cease.”
The ambassador denounced what he described as the resurgence of the Monroe Doctrine in U.S. foreign policy, which he said poses a threat to the stability of Latin America and the Caribbean. He noted that attempts to impose spheres of influence, condition sovereign relations between nations, and apply unilateral coercive measures undermine international security.
In this context, he rejected the tightening of the U.S. economic, commercial, and financial blockade against Cuba, describing it as “unjustified and unprecedented.” He stated that the island is also facing a de facto energy blockade and threats of military aggression. “Cuba is not a threat to peace; the blockade is,” he declared.
Malmierca Díaz reviewed Cuba’s contribution to Africa’s independence and the end of apartheid in South Africa, which, he said, was based on a request from Angola’s constitutional government. He recalled that Cuban internationalists returned home following the tripartite agreements signed at the United Nations without taking any goods, natural resources, or money. He also evoked Nelson Mandela’s recognition of Cuba’s decisive role in opening pathways toward peace and democracy in Africa.
He also highlighted more than six decades of international cooperation in healthcare and education, from the first medical brigade sent to Algeria in 1963 to the work of the Henry Reeve International Contingent of Doctors Specialized in Disasters and Serious Epidemics in responding to epidemics such as Ebola and COVID-19. “While the major powers invest billions in weapons, Cuba devotes its scarce resources to healthcare and education,” he stressed.
On the diplomatic front, the ambassador recalled that, during the Second CELAC Summit held in Havana in 2014, Cuba promoted the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, a commitment by 33 nations to the peaceful settlement of disputes, non-interference, and the rejection of the use of force. He also highlighted Havana’s role as the venue and facilitator of the dialogue that led to the 2016 peace agreements in Colombia.
Malmierca Díaz concluded by reaffirming that Cuba would continue to defend international law, equality among States, the self-determination of peoples, and cooperation based on solidarity. Quoting José Martí, he stated: “The homeland is humanity,” reiterating the island’s commitment to the peace that, he said, all the peoples of the world deserve.