The Gazette.
Monday 19 March 2001
Thirty-four heads of state will be attending the Summit of the Americas in
Quebec City next month. Fidel Castro will not be among them. The fact that the
Cuban dictator hasn't been invited seems to bother a few people. When Foreign
Affairs Minister John Manley stated in Ottawa last week that Canada doesn't
support Cuba's presence at the summit, critics were quick to jump on him for
reversing Canadian policy.
It's true that Ottawa has long been an advocate of closer ties with Cuba -
much to Washington's dismay. In 1998, at the Summit of the Americas in Santiago,
Chile, Prime Minister Chretien revealed that he had been seeking Cuba's presence
at these hemispheric gatherings since 1994.
But Ottawa's policy of constructive engagement has not had any success in
pushing Cuba closer to democracy and respect for human rights.
What's more, Canada is on record that it wants the hemisphere to reflect
democratic values. The Canadian government stayed out of the Organization of
American States until 1990, precisely because so little progress had been made
on democracy in the hemisphere. Keeping Cuba, a totalitarian state, out of the
summit process would be consistent with Canadian policy.
Now, critics will surely argue that excluding Cuba is hypocritical when
participating nations like Peru or Haiti have such spotty democratic records.
True, democracy may not be firmly rooted in these places, but at least free
elections are held. There may be corruption or voter intimidation, but citizens
at least get the chance to choose.
Not in Mr. Castro's Cuba. The Communist Party is still the only legal
political entity. There are no contested elections for the 601-member National
Assembly of People's Power, which rubber-stamps Mr. Castro's decisions. As the
U.S. State Department reported last month, the judiciary is completely
subordinate to the government and to the Communist Party.
The Cuban state maintains a widespread network of informers whose aim is to
root out "counter-revolutionary behaviour." As the U.S. State
Department noted, there are unconfirmed reports of extrajudicial killings by the
police and reports that prisoners have died in jail due to lack of medical care.
The authorities continue to harass human-rights advocates and independent
professionals, often with the goal of coercing them into leaving the country.
Yet some, including a few Caribbean and South American countries, still
argue that Mr. Castro should come to Quebec City. But what would his presence
achieve, other than giving him an international platform from which to defend
his objectionable policies?
Membership in the summit club should be reserved for those with a real
commitment to democracy. On that score, Mr. Castro doesn't even merit
consideration.
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