'I believe that our relationship for all these years has been guided by state policy,' says Marcelino Medina González.
Political turnover in Ottawa has had little impact over the Canada-Cuba relationship, instead the relationship has remained steadfast due to “state policy,” says a senior Cuban foreign affairs official.
Marcelino Medina González, Cuba’s first deputy minister of Foreign Affairs—the equivalent to Canada’s deputy minister of Foreign Affairs—was in Ottawa last week as part of the fifth round of annual consultations between Cuba and Canada.
Mr. Medina, who has previously served as the Cuban ambassador to Germany, met with Canadian Foreign Affairs deputy minister Marta Morgan and assistant deputy minister Michael Grant and other Global Affairs officials on March 5. He spoke to The Hill Times at the Cuban embassy following those meetings.
The most recent meetings mark 75 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Speaking through a translator, Mr. Medina called the meetings “very positive” overall, with a focus on the shared interests between Canada and Cuba.
“I believe that our relationship for all these years have been guided by state policy … [and is] based in principles on very clear concepts without relying so much on whether you have [a certain] kind of government,” he said.
The night before, at an event celebrating Mr. Medina’s visit, David Morrison, foreign and defence policy adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, remarked on the ties former prime minister Pierre Trudeau had with Cuba and past president Fidel Castro. Mr. Morrison was a former official in Canada’s embassy in Havana during the 1990s.
The senior Trudeau was the first sitting Canadian prime minister to visit Havana. Liberal prime ministers Jean Chrétien and Justin Trudeau have also visited the country. But no Conservative prime ministers have ever visited the island nation.
“There will always be periods where you see a more dynamic relationship or a less dynamic relationship,” Mr. Medina said.
Near the end of then-prime minister Stephen Harper‘s government, in April 2015, Mr. Harper met with then-Cuban president Raúl Castro at a Summit of the Americas meeting in Panama, following years of a chilly relations between the Conservative prime minister and the country.
At the time, Mr. Harper said “a different approach is appropriate at this point in time,” in regards to the Canada-Cuba relationship.
A year later, the younger Trudeau came under fire from Conservative MPs for praising Fidel Castro after news of his death. Then-Conservative MP Lisa Raitt called for Mr. Trudeau to retract his statement and apologize.
Canada’s Cuban relationship has been put under strain in recent years, in part due to an unknown phenomenon—dubbed the Havana Syndrome—that has caused concussion-like symptoms for diplomats stationed in Cuba. The issue led to Canada reducing its diplomatic presence in Cuba and cutting some consular services for Canadians on the island after 14 Canadian officials in Havana reported symptoms such as headaches and dizziness.
Mr. Medina said there have been discussions between Canada and Cuba around restoring full operations to Canada’s embassy in Havana.
“Both sides have agreed that one of the main objectives is for the Canadian embassy in Havana to go back to full capacity and full normalcy,” he said.
Opportunity for Canada in Cuban renewable energy push
As Cuba pushes to have 25 per cent of its energy coming from renewable sources by 2030, Mr. Medina said Canadian companies can use their “expertise and know-how” to invest in the transition.
Cuba currently gets less than 10 per cent of their energy from renewable sources, Mr. Medina said.
“You can understand how big of a major transformation this is for such a short period of time,” he said.
Mr. Morrison cited climate change as one area where Cuba and Canada have shared interests and can work on a multilateral basis.
Mr. Medina called the climate change approach of Canada and Cuba as “very much alike.”
“This is something where we can cooperate for our mutual benefit.”
Cuba keeping mum on Security Council bid support
As Canada ramps up its bid for a seat on the UN Security Council, Mr. Medina wouldn’t say how Cuba intends to vote.
“We are very careful in terms of how we deal … with these kinds of issues,” he said, adding that the decision is “typically” made “very close” to the time of the vote.
Canada is competing against Norway and Ireland for a spot on the UN Security Council. The vote will take place in June. Canada has served for six terms on UN’s most influential body, last holding the temporary seat from 1999 to 2000.
Mr. Medina noted that Cuba supported Canada’s last unsuccessful bid in the 2010 secret vote.
He wouldn’t comment about what elements of Canada’s foreign policy would be crucial to attract Cuban support, saying those discussions will happen through “diplomatic channels.”
Source: by Neil Moss, The Hill Times