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Solidarity Activists Hold Discussion with Cuban Ambassador in Ottawa
Ottawa-Cuba Connections held its annual general
meeting on November 20, where it reviewed the
various events it has organized in the past year
to express friendship with Cuba. An ongoing
activity is the pickets held in front of the U.S.
embassy on the 17th of every month to express
support for Cuba and to denounce the inhuman
blockade by the U.S. against the Cuban people.
 In this respect,
Ottawa-Cuba Connections was honoured to have the
Cuban Ambassador to Canada, H.E. Josefina Vidal,
come to speak at its general meeting. Ambassador
Vidal addressed what was on everyone's mind, that
is, the new difficult situation the Cuban people
face with the abrupt end of the normalization of
the relations initiated by the Obama
administration, the destruction of the progress
that had been made and the announcement on an
almost weekly basis of measures, unprecedented
both in scope and aggressiveness, that make life
harder for the Cuban people. She explained that
the U.S. was attacking sectors of the economy
which are important for Cuba in terms of
generating revenue, for example, the tourism
industry. This involves the cancelling of
U.S.-based cruises, the banning of licences that
permit people-to-people activities, and the
cancellation of direct flights from the U.S. to
nine destinations in Cuba, with the exception of
Havana.
The recent activation of Title 3 of the Helms-Burton
Act is particularly aimed at stopping
companies from doing business with more than 220
Cuban entities, many of them hotels. In September,
the U.S. blocked oil shipments to Cuba, leaving it
with only 60 per cent of the fuel it needed for
the economy. The Cuban government took measures to
overcome this problem and minimize its impact on
the population. It was overcome, in part, by
reducing urban and inter-provincial transportation
for a period of time. Normal conditions are being
re-established.
The ambassador explained that the U.S. is
resorting to tactics adopted in 1962 by the
Kennedy administration when the blockade began,
with the aim of making life so unbearable for the
people that they would revolt and bring about
regime change. She said that Cuba has always been
its own model and has learned to deal with the
most difficult situations, such as the Special
Period in the 1990s when 75 per cent of Cuba's
trade collapsed with the demise of the Soviet
Union. She said the U.S. cannot accept countries
which are sovereign and independent, but the
resilience of the Cuban people is such that the
attempts of the U.S. will not succeed and the
Cuban people will prevail.
When asked what countries can do beyond the
massive UN resolutions whereby the vast majority
of the world's countries reject the blockade as
being an attack on the human rights of the Cuban
people, she said that countries must stand up to
the U.S. and not accept the extraterritoriality of
their laws. She gave the examples of the Caribbean
nations of Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad
and Tobago, which in 1972, not long after
achieving their independence, established
diplomatic relations with Cuba, a courageous break
from U.S. dictate. Even though these countries are
small, this did not stop them from taking this
important stand, she pointed out.
The ambassador also said that Canada and Mexico
have stated that they will defend their interests
in Cuba against Title 3 of the Helms-Burton
Act. She also pointed out that dialogue with
the Canadian government had resolved certain
problems and has led, for example, to the partial
reopening of the Canadian visa service in Havana.
In this respect, she said that as the year was
coming to an end, the situation with the Canadian
government in diplomatic terms was good.
The discussion also touched upon the situation in
Latin America and South America and the struggles
of the people and how events -- such as the
struggle of the people against the coup in Bolivia
and that of the Chilean people -- are important to
Cuba, as the struggle is one and the same.
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number 29 - November 30, 2019
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In Canada: Solidarity Activists Hold Discussion with Cuban Ambassador in Ottawa
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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