US ambassador to Havana holds virtual encounter with Cuban exiles in Canada

The head of the United States Embassy in Havana, Mike Hammer, held last Monday a virtual encounter with the Cuban activist based in Canada Michael Lima Cuadra, president of democratic spaces, and with Sarah Teich, a lawyer specialized in human rights.

The Canadian Cuban activist explained to the ambassador the efforts made by his organization to make visible in Canada the human rights crisis in Cuba, in addition to insisting with the Canadian government to use “its diplomatic and legal tools in support of the opposition on the island”.

«We present the requests we have made to Parliament, which have been supported by almost 2,000 signatures, demanding the recognition of internal opposition and the call to the Canadian government to press for the release of Cuban political prisoners,» said Martí News, Lima Cuadra.

«We emphasize that Canada continues to prioritize investment and tourism, which in practice reinforces the Cuban regime,» he added.

The diplomat has been developing, since he assumed his position on November 14, 2024, a series of meetings with civil society actors of the island, independent institutions, representatives of the Catholic and Protestant Church, as well as Cuban exiles settled in the United States and other countries.

«I exposed our work with the Council for the Democratic Transition in Cuba, especially in relation to the proposal of the law of amnesty and decriminalization of dissent,» said Lima Cuadra.

He said that the United States and Canada must coordinate efforts to sanction, through the Magnitsky Law to the repressors of the protesters of July 11, 2021.

In this regard, he recalled the formal report presented by democratic spaces before Global Affairs Canada, in which the imposition of individual sanctions against the main responsible for repression in Cuba was requested.

Global Affairs is the Department of the Government of Canada that manages the diplomatic and consular relations of the northern country, promotes Canadian international trade and leads the country’s humanitarian and international development assistance.

According to the president of democratic spaces, the US business manager expressed his agreement with the need for the leading Canadian diplomats on the island to celebrate meetings with Cuban opponents, and that these meetings come to public light.

The activist spoke about the continuous exhortation that, through letters, has addressed his organization to the Canada Embassy in Havana “to resume meetings in person with political prisoners, their relatives and pro -democratic activists; instead of insisting, as he has done for almost a decade, to meet with false NGOs created by the Cuban regime and with officials. ”

For his part, Teich “referred to joint work with democratic spaces to urge the Canadian government to eliminate the existing agreements on criminal issues with the Cuban regime, since in Cuba there is no rule of law and that the judgments are lacking due process, in addition that citizens are criminalized for thinking different Human Rights.