Cuba – mackaycartoons

Tuesday February 5, 2019

February 12, 2019 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday February 5, 2019

Jagmeet Singh questions Canada’s recognition of Venezuelan opposition leader

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is questioning Canada’s decision to recognize a Venezuelan opposition leader as the country’s interim president, after prominent members of his party lashed out at the Liberal government’s foreign policy move Thursday.

March 31, 2018 – retraction

In a statement to the Toronto Star, Singh said it should be up to Venezuelans to decide who leads their country, which was roiled by deadly protests this week as the socialist regime led by Nicolas Maduro tries to cling to power amidst economic collapse and a mass exodus of migrants from the South American nation.

Canada’s foreign affairs minister, Chrystia Freeland, announced Wednesday that Ottawa will recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president and support his “commitment to lead Venezuela to free and fair presidential elections.” Canada was among the “Lima Group” of countries that called on Maduro to step down earlier this month, declaring that he seized power through “fraudulent and anti-democratic elections” last year.

Freeland’s decision came after U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Guaido as Venezuelan leader, prompting the Maduro regime to cut diplomatic ties with the United States.

Animated!

The NDP leader, however, is calling for a United Nations-led dialogue to “avert a disaster” in Venezuela, and said Thursday that all countries deserve to choose their leaders without “authoritative pressure or foreign interference.” He also condemned military action against protesters by the Maduro regime.

“Canada should not simply follow the U.S.’s foreign policy, particularly given its history of self-interested interference in the region,” Singh said.

“The question of who is to lead Venezuela should be in the hands of Venezuelans.” (Sourec: Toronto Star)

Tuesday November 22, 2016

November 28, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday November 22, 2016

O Canada: Trudeau’s Castro tribute raises eyebrows

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s tribute complimenting Fidel Castro as “remarkable” and a “larger than life leader who served his people” drew criticism and derision.

Commentators viewed Trudeau’s statement as gushing and tone-deaf — one that ignored the Cuban leader’s human rights abuses and record of political oppression. It inspired parody tributes with the hashtag #TrudeauEulogies.

In his statement, Trudeau expressed “deep sorrow” after learning of “the death of Cuba’s longest serving president.”

“Fidel Castro was a larger than life leader who served his people for almost half a century. A legendary revolutionary and orator, Mr. Castro made significant improvements to the education and healthcare of his island nation.”

Fidel Castro greets Justin Trudeau at the former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s state funeral on October 3, 2000.

“While a controversial figure, both Mr. Castro’s supporters and detractors recognized his tremendous dedication and love for the Cuban people who had a deep and lasting affection for ‘el Comandante’.”

Trudeau added that his late father, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau “was very proud to call him a friend.” Castro had been an honorary pallbearer at his father’s funeral.

The statement concluded: “We join the people of Cuba today in mourning the loss of this remarkable leader.”

The prime minister’s statement had Sen. Marco Rubio asking: Is this real?

“If this is a real statement from the PM of Canada it is shameful & embarrassing,” he tweeted. (Source: CNN)

Thursday November 17, 2016

November 16, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday November 17, 2016

Trudeau brings message of open doors to Cuba, South America

Justin Trudeau’s arrival Tuesday in Cuba – the first official visit by a Canadian prime minister in almost two decades – is the first step in the Liberal government’s week-long bid to boost Canadian trade, investment and engagement in the region.

March 12, 2014

The visit is a necessary and symbolic stop en route to Argentina and Peru because Cuba is a political and diplomatic gateway to the Americas, said Allan Culham, Canada’s former ambassador to the Organization of American States.

“A visit to Cuba is a rite of passage in the Americas,” Culham said. “You can’t have any credibility in the Americas without having gone to Cuba.”

The Prime Minister’s Office has publicly said the visit would focus on trade and investment, but the context of those talks has changed in the last week with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s tough stances on free trade.

Thanks to places like Argentina, where liberal democracy is being embraced, Canadians may be able to play a more influential role in South America, said Culham – particularly at a time when the U.S. is turning dramatically inwards.

“This is a real opportunity for us on the hemispheric stage to make a difference both politically and practically.”

January 16, 2007

Canada’s reputation in South America has taken a hit in the last decade from concerns about the environmental and social effects of Canadian mining operations, said John Kirk, a professor in the department of Spanish and Latin American studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

“We have done a dismal job,” Kirk said.

“I’ve got students in several places in Latin America that have taken the maple leaf off the backpack precisely because of the role of (former prime minister) Stephen Harper.”

In Cuba, Trudeau is scheduled to meet Tuesday with president Raul Castro shortly after his arrival in Havana before attending a state dinner.

There is no scheduled meeting with Fidel Castro, the former Cuban leader who was an honorary pallbearer at Pierre Trudeau’s funeral in 2000. (Source: MacLean’s)

Saturday, February 20, 2016

February 19, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday, February 20, 2016

Obama to visit Cuba: Two views

As the Toronto Star has argued before, efforts by 10 successive U.S. presidents to unseat the regime in Havana have demeaned a superpower, discredited Cuban reformers and impoverished the island. By Cuban reckoning, the embargo has inflicted more than $120 billion in economic losses since Fidel Castro came to power in 1959. The U.S. severed diplomatic ties in 1961 and imposed the embargo in 1962.

With every passing year the embargo became more pointlessly vindictive, as the U.S. traded briskly with Communist China, with communist regimes in Vietnam and Laos, even to a limited extent with North Korea.

It’s a point of pride for Canadians that we played a small positive role by hosting the secret talks that led to the U.S. and Cuba breaking the ice in 2014, restoring diplomatic ties and embassies, upgrading trade and air links, and easing aspects of the boycott. Canada never endorsed or joined the boycott, taking the view that Cubans must be free to shape their own political course.

Only Congress can fully lift the embargo. That’s beyond this president’s power. But Obama is right to make good on his promise before he leaves office.

Cuba’s democrats and reformers will be cheered by this visit as they press for credible elections, independent courts and a more open economy. And the government will no longer be able to cite U.S. hostility as a pretext for “defending the revolution” by intimidating critics and suppressing human rights. (Source: Toronto Star Editorial)

Meanwhile, another take on the coming visit, though less earnest: Canadians who want to visit Cuba before an influx of Americans “ruins” it better move fast: President Obama is planning a visit in the next few weeks, and you can bet a lot of others will follow soon. On Tuesday Washington and Havana agreed to re-open commercial air traffic. And Beyoncé’s already been there. Can Havana Disney be far behind? Obama’s visit could could legitimately be termed an historic event. And he doesn’t have a lot of other foreign successes to brag about, so he might as well highlight one of the few achievements he can claim. Enjoy the rum, el presidente.(Source: National Post Editorial)

Published in the Telegram, St. John’s, Newfoundland, March 1, 2016

Friday July 17, 2015

July 16, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday July 17, 2015

Pan Am Games: 4 members of Cuban rowing team defect to U.S., coach say

Four Cuban rowers have defected to the U.S. during the Pan Am Games, according to the team’s coach, a move one agent says is likely due to economic conditions inside Cuba.

Coach Juan Carlos Reyes says Leosmel Ramos, Wilber Turro, Manuel Suarez and Orlando Sotolongo have left the team and travelled to the United States. There are more than 150 Cuban athletes at the Pan Am Games, competing in a range of sports.

The Games rowing venue in St. Catharines, Ont., is only a few kilometres from the U.S. border.

Reyes says Ramos and Turro dropped out before the regatta began on Saturday while Suarez and Sotolongo were in earlier races and then withdrew. Sotolongo won a silver medal at the Games and made a Facebook post about his love for Cuba shortly before leaving the team.

He said they have been in touch with teammates through Facebook.

Two Cuban baseball players, Luis Yander La O and Yadiel Hernandez, previously defected during a tune-up competition in North Carolina the week before the Games.

Joe Kehoskie, a U.S.-based agent who has represented several Cuban baseball players, said the defections are likely driven by the economic conditions inside Cuba rather than the chance to pursue a sports career in the U.S.

While the U.S. is in the process of normalizing relations with Cuba, including a recent agreement to reopen embassies, Kehoskie said many Cubans are more concerned with leaving the island now than ever. That’s because, he said, the U.S. may end its “wet foot/dry foot” policy, which allows any Cuban who steps foot on U.S. soil to remain in the country.

U.S. President Barack Obama vowed to keep the policy earlier this year. The Cuban government opposes it, saying the policy promotes illegal immigration and human trafficking.(Source: CBC News)