Cuba’s crisis is mounting. Should Canada step in to help?
Kirk: Canada should again use its good offices and lobby the Biden administration to abandon the trade embargo against Cuba
Canadian PoliticsEconomic CrisisLatin America and the CaribbeanUSA Politics

Street scene in Havana, Cuba. Photo by Jorge Royan/Wikimedia Commons.
Nobody can deny that Cuba is facing a major crisis—the most severe since the Batista dictatorship was overthrown in 1959.
The current energy situation is dire. For almost four days the entire country was without electricity. Schools and factories were closed, food spoiled in refrigerators, and the country was paralyzed.
In the midst of these problems Cuba was hit by Hurricane Oscar, with winds of 120 kmh. Seven people died and 1,000 homes were damaged. Over 149,000 people have been affected, including 32,600 children.
The causes for the blackouts are clear: Cuba is without money to buy fuel on the world market or replace its obsolete power generation facilities.
There are underlying factors, too. The Cuban government has mismanaged the economy, investing excessively in tourism. The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the sector, with drastically reduced numbers of tourist arrivals.
Over six decades of punishing US policies have had a major impact on Cuba’s economy and have cost the island nation US$5 billion in the last year alone ($164 billion since the inception of the embargo). In his last week in office, former US President Donald Trump placed Cuba on the list of countries that support terrorism, a move which has made any international commerce difficult.
But the situation is far worse than a lack of fuel.
There are shortages of food and water. Cubans are spending more than 70 percent of their income on food. This year, for the first time in its history, Cuba appealed to the World Food Programme (WFP) for aid—requesting milk powder for young children.
What’s more, UNICEF recently added Cuba to the list of countries suffering from child poverty. Rationed food has been cut back significantly. Seniors receive a pension of $5 monthly. The annual inflation rate is 31 percent.
Between 2007 and 2022 Cuba dropped 30 places in the Human Development Index (from 53 in 2007 to 83 in 2022).
Even the traditionally excellent health care and education services have been affected. Some 12,000 doctors have left the system in the last three years, and the infant mortality rate increased from five percent per 1,000 live births (2017) to 7.9 percent in 2023. Cuba needs 24,000 teachers for this school year.
Indeed, the situation is disastrous. But should Canada help? There are several reasons why the answer is ‘yes.’
In March 2025 Canada and Cuba will mark 80 years of unbroken diplomatic relations. In the early 1960s Canada was one of only two countries in the Western Hemisphere (the other being Mexico) not to bow to US pressure and break relations with Cuba. In 1976 Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was the first leader of a NATO country to visit Cuba.
Canada is also the largest supplier of tourists to Cuba—more than one million of us visited every year before the pandemic, according to the federal government. Over the decades close personal relationships with Cubans have resulted.
Sherritt International, with investments in nickel mining and energy exploration and development, is one of the largest companies on the island, and has been in Cuba for over 30 years. Cuba is also Canada’s major trading partner in the Caribbean/Central American region. There are many Canadian universities that have joint research and exchange projects with Cuban counterparts.
How can Canada help? Cuba has received offers of assistance from Venezuela, Mexico, Bolivia, Russia and Barbados. Canada can help in two ways—sending badly needed food and medical supplies, and lobbying Washington to adopt a more humane policy.
Canada was the first country to respond to Cuba’s appeal to the WFP with a $540,000 donation, which enabled the delivery of about 150 tons of milk powder. We could do the same again. Through the Canadian NGOs that have projects in Cuba, Ottawa could support their requests for assistance.
Canada can also lobby Washington to promote a sensible approach to Cuba. In 2014 the government of Stephen Harper hosted secret meetings between US and Cuban negotiators that resulted in the Obama administration reopening diplomatic ties with Cuba. Maybe the Trudeau government—desperately in need of positive news on the foreign policy front—could show some diplomatic initiative.
Joe Biden has three months left in power. Since he did not deliver on his commitment to reject the Trump measures against Cuba, now is the time to do so. Taking Cuba off the list of countries that allegedly support terrorism is an easy decision.
Maybe Canada can again use its good offices and lobby the Biden administration to adopt a less aggressive policy.
John M. Kirk is Professor Emeritus of Latin American Studies at Dalhousie University, and the author of several books on Cuba.