POOR CANADA! It is really shameful that such a big nation cannot find any way to prove its existence other than by going against the policy of a powerful neighbor. ``I defy the United States, ergo I exist'' should be the new motto at Canada's Foreign Ministry.
I am referring specifically to Canada's constant bickering with the United States regarding Cuba. Some might argue that Canada is not alone in its opposition to U.S. policy on Cuba. Granted, the U.N. General Assembly repeatedly has voted against the U.S. embargo, and the European Union has frantically challenged the Helms-Burton Act. But no nation has ever made this U.S.-Cuba issue the centerpiece of its foreign policy, as Canada has been doing lately.
The latest incident in this ``policy of divergence'' is the recent visit of Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy to Havana. Upon his return to Canada, he happily announced that ``a broad bilateral cooperation plan'' had been reached with Cuba, including cooperation in the area of human rights. This is the first time that Havana has agreed to cooperate with another country on this issue. Does this mean that Cuba will improve its appalling human-rights record? Axworthy knows that it will not. Canadian tourists and businessmen still will be going to Cuba in growing numbers no matter what Castro does to political prisoners, so there is no incentive, no reason, for the regime to ameliorate its repressive nature.
Other nations have been experimenting with ``constructive engagement'' in Cuba for a while with no tangible results, as Felipe Gonzalez, former prime minister of Spain, can attest. As the European Union has finally conceded with its ``common position'' on Cuba, you just don't convince someone like Fidel Castro to become Mr. Nice Guy; you must coerce him.
If everybody knows that Canada's policy is bound to fail, then why implement it in the first place? Because this is not really about turning Cuba into a democracy -- that is too complicated; this is about defying the United States and getting a good nickel/cobalt deal as a bonus. This is definitely more Canada vs. the United States than Canada vs. Castro.
If what the Canadians are striving to prove is their ``independence'' from the United States, then they are failing miserably. If we agree that Cuba is not on the U.S. State Department's top-10 list of priorities, then we ought to conclude that Canada's disproportionate concentration on this matter proves only that it has nothing better to do with its foreign policy. This might be flattering from the Cubans' point of view, but if I were a Canadian, I would be seriously concerned.
There is a wonderful phrase nowadays -- Get a life! -- for those who have nothing better to do than to meddle in somebody else's affairs for the wrong reasons. Right now I feel like saying: Canada, get a foreign policy!
c 1996 The Miami Herald.