In a new commentary for the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, Michael Lima, Isabelle Terranova, and Sarah Teich argue that Canada’s approach to Cuba is dangerously out of step with reality, and with the principles Ottawa applies everywhere else in the region.
When US special forces captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in January 2026, 32 members of Cuba’s elite “Black Wasps” counter-insurgency unit were killed protecting him. Havana declared two days of national mourning. The episode laid bare what Canada has long preferred to ignore: Cuba is not simply a poor Caribbean nation struggling under US sanctions. It is an active participant in a global authoritarian network, one that props up dictators, hosts Russian and Chinese intelligence operations, and funnels foreign investment through military-controlled enterprises to fund surveillance and digital repression.
Yet Canada has never sanctioned a single Cuban official, even as it has sanctioned over 150 officials in Venezuela and Nicaragua. Drawing from the authors’ comprehensive report, Cuba and the Authoritarian Nexus: Internal Repression, External Aggression, and Illiberal Partnerships, released today by Human Rights Action Group and Democratic Spaces, the commentary makes the case that Ottawa’s inconsistency is not pragmatism. It is a policy failure that undermines Canada’s credibility on democracy and human rights across the Americas.
