Richard Foot, CanWest News Service
Published: Thursday, July 19, 2007
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados — On the Caribbean leg of his America’s mission Thursday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper parted ways with the leader of Barbados on how to deal most effectively with the Communist regime in Cuba.
Harper has spent the past four days in Latin America actively promoting what he calls “Canadian values” of free trade, security, political and economic freedom, and respect for human rights.
The longtime Communist regime in Cuba, along with the rabidly, anti-western government in Venezuela, are potentially two of the biggest obstacles to Harper’s vision for the hemisphere.
On Thursday, Harper said the values he is advancing in this region should apply equally to Cuba, although he said he has no immediate plans to travel and to bring his message there, even though Canada has economic and diplomatic ties to one of the Caribbean’s largest countries.
“We have relationships with Cuba. (There is) a lot of Canadian investment there.
“Canadian governments have at the same time, over the years, expressed concerns about certain aspects of governance and human rights in Cuba,” he said in a news conference with Barbadian Prime Minister Owen Arthur.
“The values that we are promoting through the region — values of open and free societies, democratic societies, values of modern prosperity and open markets and of course common security challenges --- we’re going to promote these values similarly everywhere in the region,” Harper said.
In contrast, Owen Arthur, a leading regional statesman who is chairman of the 15-member Caribbean Community economic union, said Cuba should be respected for what it is, and be allowed to follow its own path, without foreign criticism or interference.
“We have a relationship with Cuba that’s over 30 years old,” said Arthur, who reportedly has a close, personal friendship with Cuban Leader Fidel Castro.
The world's approach to Cuba should be guided by principles of “respect for people’s sovereignty, and non-interference, and the right of people to pursue alternative paths to their development,” Arthur said.
“Our hemisphere is diminished when we do not recognize Cuba, and validly so, as a citizen of our hemisphere, that needs to be integrated in the affairs of our hemisphere,” he said, in particular reference to the United States’s policy of non-engagement with Cuba.
After his meeting with Arthur, Harper came on board the Canadian warship HMCS Fredericton, which is stopped in the port of Bridgetown during a month-long “maritime surveillance” mission in Caribbean waters.
Harper toured the Halifax-based frigate and talked with its sailors in the midst of a sweltering summer Caribbean day.
On Thursday night, Harper delivers a speech to an audience of Caribbean heads of government.
He is expected to reiterate Canada’s new policy of “re-engagement” in Latin America, and discuss renewed efforts to reach a free trade agreement between Canada and Caribbean nations.
© CanWest News Service 2007
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Topic: Harper at odds with Caribbean neighbours over Cuba (Read 1625 times)