Foreign Affairs Committee on Feb. 26th, 2026

[Kirenia Carbonell]

I understand where you're coming from. However, if you do your research a little bit further, you will see that, for example, even today the U.S. administration is willing to have private companies in Cuba to import oil from the United States. The sanctions are targeting the regime. The sanctions do not target the population at the base.

We have been talking this afternoon about how the U.S. has sent aid to Cuba. The U.S. is distributing aid to the Cubans. The U.S. is going a step further and is verifying, is making sure....

In Canada, we have the Financial Administration Act. There is no money in Canada that gets encumbered such that we don't have access to the money. We keep our records for up to six years, so that we can go back and conduct audits. The U.S. is doing that on the ground.

I understand the emphasis you're trying to place on the embargo. However, I am here to explain that from the Cuban perspective it's the least of our worries, because the embargo is targeting the Castro military totalitarian Communist regime.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

You are, therefore, telling us that there is no impact on the population—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you.

We're going to go next to MP Lianne Rood.

You have five minutes.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Middlesex—London, ON]

Thank you.

Evidence has shown that the Cuban regime has been reselling donated oil from Mexico and Venezuela on the black market while hoarding foreign currency, directly contributing to the fuel shortages that cause hospitals to shut down and families to live in darkness. How can Canada ensure that its humanitarian aid actually reaches the Cuban people instead of subsidizing a regime that creates its own shortages?

[Kirenia Carbonell]

Thank you for the question. I will actually tie that with what Ms. Barrero was saying earlier.

For example, there is a record that, on the commercial nautical zone, Cuba, the regime, resold the oil that it was receiving from Venezuela at super fair market value. There is no question about it, because 60% of the oil was not reaching Cuba.

I grew up in a region three kilometres from five-star hotels, and my region never, ever got electricity. They got electricity in 2014. The village next to it has no electricity. It has never been electrified. That's one thing.

Second, she was talking about how the situation compares to Haiti. I'll tell you this. I have colleagues in Canada who come from Haiti. Cuba is worse than Haiti, and I'll tell you why. It's true that they have a gang issue in the capital of Haiti, but the world is talking about it. The world has put together a multinational brigade to go and help Haitian people combat crime, but do you know what? Farmers in Haiti are allowed to farm. Fishermen in Haiti are allowed to fish. Haiti has textile production. Haiti exports its textiles to the United States. Combat uniforms for the troops in the United States are made from textiles from Haiti.

Cubans have to go to Haiti. Well, not now, because there is a situation with flights, but in regular circumstances, we have to go to Haiti to purchase attire. Then people come back to Cuba and resell it.

How can Canada ensure....? Canada could very well be contributing to Operation Caribbe. Right now, the U.S. has Operation Southern Spear. This is an example of where Canada can work hand in hand with the United States to keep the Caribbean safe. We have a partnership to make sure that the Arctic is safe. Canada has an Indo-Pacific policy. We have an Indo-Pacific strategy. Why do we not have a Caribbean strategy? Why don't we have a Latin American strategy?

There are many things that Canada can do to help us.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Middlesex—London, ON]

Canada does provide millions in aid, has significant foreign direct investment and protects Canadian businesses in Cuba through the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act, yet not a single Cuban official has ever faced Canadian sanctions for human rights abuses.

Has Canada's constructive engagement failed the Cuban people for decades? What specific changes must the Liberal government make to stop subsidizing repression?

[Kirenia Carbonell]

It is hard to come to this committee and express that Canada's bilateral relationship with Cuba has failed the Cuban people, but this is what we feel. We feel that bilateral relations are there for exactly what you said, to provide support and consular support to tourists when they go to Cuba and to provide support to the many Canadian companies that invest in Cuba.

I was saying earlier that right now we, as a country, are enablers of a dictatorship. That dictatorship has now been in power for 67 years because they're good at repressing, and they have over 1,209 political prisoners, including prisoners like José Gabriel Barrenechea, who is an intellectual. When his mother was dying of cancer and was begging the regime to let her see her son one more time before passing away, the regime declined.

Therefore, yes, Canada should be applying Magnitsky sanctions to Cuban officials. We have the names of those judges who perform sham trials and summary trials and who put people in jail who are innocent. We have the name of the Minister of the Interior. We have the name of the Castro family and their descendants who are exploiting the Cuban population.

As I was saying, there is modern slavery in Cuba. There are Canadian companies.... There is a record of Cuba having sent workers and specialists here to Canada as a rotation with Sherritt. There is evidence. Evan Dyer from CBC did an article on it, on how Cuba was forcing those workers here in Canada to wire their salary. According to the Treasury Board, a specialist can make six digits here in Canada. The regime is forcing them to wire part of their salary back to Havana. They not only have modern slavery within the confines of the territory—Cuba is a prison island with a flag and many little prisons within it—but they put their borders wherever they want. There is transnational aggression as well.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you very much.

We next go to MP Oliphant.

You have five minutes.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for bringing your opinions and ideas to us, and for your activism on behalf of Cuban people. I want to reiterate Canada's engagement recently, obviously, this week with the announcement of $8 million in humanitarian aid, which I am very happy with and proud of.

It would seem to me that we have three things in this conversation.

One is the desire of Canadians to help the Cuban people. We start with essentials like food. Then, we would go to those basic issues like health care, education and housing, which also require fuel. Those are the things that Canadians have spoken to me the most about. Our government's response has been first in that way.

The second issue that Canadians raise a lot is human rights issues, democratic institutions, reform of institutions, participation, equality and legality. They want Canada to foster those issues and invest in Cuba and elsewhere around the world as a second tier of engagement.

The system of government is not Canada's priority. We recognize that there are systems of government that are very different from the Canadian government, so we do not engage in either indirect or direct regime change. That is for the Cuban people who live in Cuba to decide. That is not for us to do; nor do I believe that it is for expats living around the world to do. We have a certain safety and security living in Canada. We do not believe in regime change. It's the indirect regime change that we are also concerned about.

We received a letter. I checked with the clerk to make sure that I could acknowledge a letter I've received. We as a committee have received this today from the Americas Policy Group and Common Frontiers. They are actually very clear that they want Canada to stand up against the Americans, not only on the tradition of an embargo, but also on the more recent coercive activity of starving the country of fuel. This is their goal.

The question I would have for the witnesses is, do they believe that the coercive activities of some countries, including the United States with its embargo, have actually helped change the regime, which has been their stated goal? I've heard at least one witness argue for more stringent activities such as that. Have they been effective, and will they be effective in any sense?

[Kirenia Carbonell]

First of all, we would never come to Canada's government or commission to ask for direct help for regime change in Cuba. We are cognizant that the transition to a democratic island is the responsibility of us Cubans. I would like to correct, if I may, that it is the responsibility of Cubans not only in Cuba.

We have been in exile. There are three million of us who have been forced off the island, and there are a large number of us who are prohibited right now from disembarking from a plane in Cuba should we wish to buy a ticket and go to Cuba. Whatever we are is our responsibility

We are working in creating alliances. We are working in holding bilateral engagement and multinational engagement with many governments, as Ms. Barrero was saying. We will be free. It's not a matter of reaching out to other governments.

What we would like is for Canada to stop propping up the regime. The highlight I made is that it's hard for us Cubans to liberate ourselves when we are against a tyrannical regime and against mainstream media, which keeps portraying what's not going on in the island. We have democratic nations sending billions and billions of dollars for decade after decade, so it's hard for a people to liberate itself like that.

As I was saying, on July 11, in over 49 cities in Cuba, hundreds of thousands of Cubans took to the street to make peaceful demands. Some of them were demanding basic essentials, but some of them were demanding freedom and democracy, which is what we need.

How did the regime respond to that? It deployed the armed forces. They shot Diubis Laurencio, and he lost his life. We have a criminal regime that deploys the armed forces against the civilian population. Yes, we also beg the democracies to at least not fund them. At least start by not funding them. Start by applying sanctions. Why not?

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

If we're agreed that it should be organic, peaceful change happening in Cuba, what fosters that? I ask because I don't believe that embargoes, or starving the people of Cuba of either food or fuel, work. What are your suggestions for positive things that can be done to help the Cuban people so that, as they come out of this crisis, as I would call it despite what we've heard today, because Cuban friends, who live in Cuba, have told me it's a crisis—

[A voice]

[Inaudible—Editor]

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Well, we were told here that it wasn't a crisis.

[Kirenia Carbonell]

It is a dark crisis.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

What can we do that will get us through the crisis to the point where the Cuban people can have self-determination for an improved future?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Please give a very quick response. We'll also then turn to Ms. Ferrer, and then we'll conclude.

[Kirenia Carbonell]

Every time we get to speak about democracy, my face lights up.

First of all, I would like to highlight that the hunger in Cuba is not caused by the embargo. The regime has decided to stock hotels with nutritious food, and the bodegas in Cuba have empty shelves. I will not accept those in the room here walking out thinking that the hunger and extreme poverty in Cuba are due to the embargo. It's not true. If regime officials are able to secure a supply chain to stock the hotels, they can secure a supply chain to stock the bodegas, but they are not interested.

To the second part of your question, on how Canada could assist us in a peaceful democratic transition, Canada could, for example, vocally and overtly advocate for the release of the political prisoners. These are innocent people. These are mothers, fathers and brothers who took to the street. If we saw innocent political prisoners being released, it would give us an indication that the regime is open to other considerations. We don't feel comfortable with the idea that we funnel assistance, decade after decade, and nothing changes on the island.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you.

We'll go to Ms. Barrero to conclude.

[Carolina Barrero Ferrer]

[Witness spoke in Spanish, interpreted as follows:]

We are not asking Canada to help us take down the regime or even help us to have democracy. We will achieve democracy in Cuba. Cuba will be free. Cubans will achieve this, whether Canada wishes to assist or not. I want that to be very clear.

I'll repeat: the embargo hasn't caused the hunger in Cuba. It's the regime. What we're asking from Canada is not to help us—we will achieve freedom—but to not legitimize a repressive, corrupt regime that for 70 years has stolen aid and said it's the victim of the embargo but has never taken on its responsibilities.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you very much.

Thank you to all of the witnesses for your appearance before the committee.

We will now briefly suspend to prepare for the second panel.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

I call this meeting back to order.

I would now like to welcome our witnesses for the second hour of this meeting. We have, from the Center for a Free Cuba, John Suarez, executive director, and from the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights, Mr. Cires, director of strategy.

Up to five minutes will be given for opening remarks, after which we'll proceed to rounds of questions from colleagues.

I first invite Mr. Cires to give an opening statement of up to five minutes.

[Yaxys Cires, Director of Strategy, Cuban Observatory of Human Rights]

[Witness spoke in Spanish, interpreted as follows:]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.

According to our most recent study on the state of social rights in Cuba, 89% of the population lives in extreme poverty, and seven out of 10 Cubans must forgo at least one of the three daily meals. Amid recurring epidemics, only 3% of the population was able to obtain medicine from pharmacies within the public health system. Among the hardest-hit sectors, older adults suffer the effects of the system in an especially cruel way. Many live in homes at risk of collapse, live without stable access to potable water and receive a monthly retirement pension so low that it barely allows them to buy a dozen eggs and little more.

Among the most vulnerable are also the victims of state repression, especially the approximately 800 prisoners of conscience and their families who suffer the added injustice of losing their freedom for calling for change or for exposing the situation of scarcity and misery that we are talking about today. Roberto Pérez Fonseca is one of those prisoners, and his brother is a Canadian citizen.

The causes of this tragedy are structural. We are not speaking of a temporary or circumstantial crisis, nor of exogenous roots. These are the natural consequences of a centrally planned economic model that concentrates most means of production in the hands of the state, fails to provide legal certainty to investments, and suffocates economic and social freedom. The deterioration of hospitals, the shortage of medical supplies, the collapse of buildings, the increase in blackouts, and the mountains of garbage in the streets now appearing in international media are the results of an accumulation of decades of failed policies.

For years, those in power have prioritized hotel construction and businesses controlled by a military-run conglomerate, GAESA, instead of taking care of the people. These companies buy food from other countries and resell it at exorbitant prices in dollars that are out of reach for most households.

There are blackouts, but various investigations indicate that a significant portion of the subsidized oil, as was mentioned by witnesses before me, that Venezuela sent to Cuba was illegally resold to third countries instead of being used to alleviate the internal energy crisis.

I would also like to mention here the labour model imposed in Cuba's foreign investment sector—the ambassador was the minister of investment—which systematically violates workers' rights and impoverishes them by prohibiting the direct hiring of personnel by the investing company. Instead, hiring must be channelled through state employment agencies that act as monopolistic intermediaries that only let Cuban workers receive 10%. That's not progressive.

The persistent and critical humanitarian reality in Cuba has been invisible for decades except when, for political or ideological reasons, some use it to criticize other states or during periods when aid from abroad appears as a kind of assistance but does not address the real cause.

An honest approach is required. Therefore, we present three proposals in different areas.

First, we propose that Canada participate in a coordinated international response that promotes real economic and political opening, encouraging fundamental freedoms, private initiative and respect for human rights. Only structural, not cosmetic change will allow the Cuban people to regain hope and build their own future.

Second, we propose that humanitarian support be delivered directly to the Cuban population, with churches and civil society to ensure effective delivery.

Third, we propose that Canada, together with other countries, press Cuban authorities to reform the labour regime governing foreign investment, one that would be unacceptable in any western country, including here.

Finally, honourable members, we are facing the end of a historical cycle in Cuba. Either the decision is made to prolong the country's decline—and with it the agony of the Cuban people—or the decision is made to help find a reasonable, peaceful political solution to the current situation.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you.

I invite Mr. Suarez to make an opening statement for up to five minutes.

[John Suarez, Executive Director, Center for a Free Cuba]

Thank you very much.

I'm here today representing the Center for a Free Cuba, which is also a member of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance.

A humanitarian crisis persists in Cuba, predating President Donald Trump's executive order of January 19, 2026, which imposed tariffs on nations supplying oil to Cuba directly or indirectly.

Yesterday, the U.S. treasury department announced the administration's intention to allow energy companies to sell fuel to private enterprises in Cuba while maintaining strict sanctions on the Cuban government. Cuba has endured a permanent humanitarian crisis since 1961 that is driven by two main factors: the inefficiencies of its communist system and U.S. economic sanctions. The critical question is, which contributes primarily to the ongoing economic disaster?

Prior to 1959's Communist revolution, from 1952 to 1958, Cuba's food supply was highly productive, with the country ranking third in Latin America for daily calorie consumption. This success stemmed from nationalistic policies promoting agricultural self-sufficiency to meet market demand. This ended under Fidel Castro's regime, which seized and collectivized properties and prohibited farmers from selling crops to non-state entities. By 1964, the government's Acopio system controlled all agricultural products, setting production quotas and requiring sales to the state.

Cuba's recent agricultural law, Decreto Ley 358 of 2018, upholds these prohibitions on private sales. Food rationing began in 1962 as a control mechanism and persists today. Items are subsidized but are insufficient to sustain individuals. As Reuters journalist Marc Frank reported in 2010, Cuba's centralized system forces farmers to sell fixed crops to the state in exchange for supplies, often leading to rotting crops and shortages of inputs like feed, pesticides and fertilizer.

These inefficiencies, which are unrelated to sanctions, stem from the absence of market mechanisms. Media outlets like Diario de Cuba on March 18, 2021, and 14ymedio on June 15, 2021, documented rotting tomatoes, onions and vegetables due to Acopio's delays in collection. Farmers face fines, detentions or imprisonment for attempting independent sales. Consequently, Cuba imports 70% to 80% of its food, even during periods of heavy Soviet subsidies or Venezuelan aid. For example, between 2011 and 2014, with no fuel shortages, rationing continued unabated.

Since 2000, much of this food has come from the U.S. In 2025, Cuba imported $810.8 million in U.S. goods. Today, Cuban chicken primarily originates from Alabama and Mississippi. Per the Observatory of Economic Complexity, in 2024 Cuba's poultry imports were led by the United States with $298 million, followed by Brazil with $39 million, the Netherlands with $21 million, Poland with $9.67 million and Paraguay with $510,000.

The nation subjected to comprehensive multilateral sanctions by the United States and much of the world was apartheid South Africa. Experts note that despite targeting agricultural products against South Africa—it doesn't happen with Cuba—these sanctions had a minimal impact on the regime's food supply, as South Africa, like Cuba, effectively circumvented the restrictions. The same cannot be said for the devastating effects of communist economic planning on food security. The 20th century's greatest famine stemmed from communist forced collectivization.

In the Soviet Union, Stalin's policies led to the 1932 to 1933 Holodomor in Ukraine, where grain seizures for export caused six million to 10 million deaths. In China, Mao Zedong's 1959 to 1961 Great Leap Forward resulted in over 30 million starving, even as China exported food to Cuba at the time. Cuba's humanitarian crisis arises not from unilateral U.S. sanctions but from Havana's adherence to this failed model.

Since 2022, the Center for a Free Cuba has urged the international community to establish a humanitarian corridor delivering aid directly to Cubans in need, bypassing the kleptocratic Havana regime. In February 2026, the State Department announced an additional $6 million in humanitarian aid to Cuba, building on $3 million that was successfully delivered in January to the Catholic Church's Caritas organization. Testimonies confirmed that the initial aid reached victims directly, bringing the total U.S. distribution to $9 million.

The centre also endorses the appeal by Human Rights Action Group and Democratic Spaces, both Canadian NGOs, calling on Canada to press Havana to legalize independent civil society for effective aid distribution.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you very much.

Before I pass the floor over for questions, I want to take the opportunity, on behalf of colleagues, to sincerely thank you both for travelling to Ottawa, from the United States and from Panama, to appear before this committee. I appreciate that very much, and we all do.

I'm going now to questions from colleagues, beginning with MP Rood.

You have six minutes.