I understand you very well, Ms. St-Hilaire.
When I first went to Cuba in the year 2000, I asked more or less the same questions. When I read the newspapers, I wondered whether it was heaven or hell. This is why I have spent nearly 25% of my time in Cuba over the past seven years. I have lived with the Cuban people, both in Havana and in the other provinces, to find out what was going on inside Cuba at all levels.
I noted that all was not well in Cuba. The country has been economically stifled for 48 years. No other country has ever gone through that. Can you imagine what would happen if, tomorrow morning, the United States refused any trade with Canada and threatened to prosecute any company that trades with Canada? We would be in desperate economic straights. Canada is a wealthy country, whereas Cuba, at the time of the revolution, was a poor country.
Thus, things are not going well. When the Soviet Union, that had been helping Cuba economically, fell apart, the blockade was re-enforced. Let me remind you that you asked me whether we should condemn the blockade. The Canadian government condemns it as almost every country in the world does. Only four UN member-countries support the blockade. Of course, the United States support it, along with Israel, Palaos and the Marshall Islands. The rest of the international community is revolted by this illegal blockade that is often described as attempted genocide.
This is Cuba's real economic situation. Canada and Canadian companies are welcomed to trade with Cuba, for without this, Cubans would be literally starving to death, as was the case in the beginning of what is called the "special period", in 1992, when the Americans strengthened their blockade right after the demise of the Soviet Union.
We hear all kinds of things about Cuba. This is why Cuba-Nouvelles is striving to reveal facts that can be objectively verified. You can verify the figures I quoted. The average Cuban's purchasing power has increased by nearly 50% during the past two years. This is the result of Canada's constructive economic policy and Canada's presence in Cuba.
If the United States' blockade was lifted tomorrow morning, Cuba's standard of living could well become four or five times higher. Trade between Cuba and the United States is very limited. It amounts to approximately US$300 million to US$400 million per year. This is merely a drop in the bucket for a country with a population of nearly 12 million.
This trade is subjected to very difficult conditions. Some products are available in Cuba, but the government, the people and the State of Cuba usually have to purchase such products at twice or three times the normal price. For instance, to purchase a bag of cement whose wholesale price is only a few dollars, it costs up to $10 or $15 to ship it from Europe, and a ship is denied access to American ports for the six months that follow.
Let me conclude by raising a second point regarding political prisoners. Imagine if tomorrow morning Canada found out that Saudi Arabia or the government of Iran or Pakistan were paying Canadians four or five times the minimum wage to help Canada make a peaceful and democratic transition to an Islamic regime because those countries feel that our monarchy is obsolete. I think that the Canadian government would not stand for it.
This is exactly what is happening in Cuba. People caught receiving $200 or $300 a month—I already mentioned the cost of living in Cuba—have been jailed. It was not because of their opinions. Many people who are opposed to the regime in Cuba are free to walk the streets, but those who collaborate with the enemy are jailed.
