OPINION: Principled foreign policy means voting ‘YES’ at a crucial UN vote calling for an end to Trump’s rights-violating blockade of Cuba

The following article by APG coordinator Kathy Price was published in The Hill Times on October 21, 2026.

The promise of principled politics drew world attention when Prime Minister Mark Carney took to the podium in Davos back in January with a Trump-defying assertion about the capacity of middle powers like Canada to build a new international order based on values of respect for human rights, sustainable development, solidarity, sovereignty, and the territorial integrity of states. 

That hope-inspiring message was reinforced by Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand’s statement at the United Nations General Assembly last month where she underscored Canada’s strong commitment to the principles of the UN, human rights, international law, and Article 1(2) of the UN Charter: the self-determination of peoples.

A crucial event later this month presents a vitally important moment to walk the talk. 

On Oct. 27 and 28, the UN General Assembly will consider a resolution on the necessity of ending the decades-long economic, commercial, and financial embargo imposed by the United States against Cuba. It is essential that Canada votes ‘yes’ to the resolution, joining scores of other middle powers standing up to egregious American violations of the UN Charter and their life-threatening impact on the Cuban people.

The urgency to do so is undeniable. 

Cuba is experiencing a dire, worsening humanitarian crisis exacerbated by U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order threatening tariffs on countries that sell oil to Cuba, as well as additional sanctions with extraterritorial effect on private entities such as traders, insurers, tourism or shipping companies, and financial institutions. Days ago, media reported the forced interception by the U.S. Coast Guard of a vessel accused of seeking to deliver fuel to Cuba. 

Such measures violate the sovereignty of every nation that would trade with Cuba, including Canada. 

Moreover, the strategy aims at collective punishment of the Cuban people, knowingly and cruelly depriving them of the means to survive. 

In June, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called attention to the “widespread harm” caused by the expansion of U.S. sanctions that are “endangering lives,” including children “dying because doctors lack access to essential medical supplies and medicines.” 

Five other respected UN human rights experts raised their voices this past August, urging the international community to act swiftly “to prevent a silent Gaza.” Notably, they condemned American sanctions as “an attempt to alter the constitutional order of a sovereign State through threats and coercion, with devastating consequences for vital rights to food, health and other human rights of the Cuban people.” 

“Devastating” was also the conclusion of yet another UN expert report delivered to the Human Rights Council last month. It emphasized that the entire population is threatened, but especially children, pregnant women, older persons, and persons with chronic diseases requiring transplants or other once-accessible treatments that are no longer possible. 

Indeed, UN agencies on the ground have warned of “mounting risks of food insecurity and shortages of medicines and basic necessities, with repeated national grid collapses and prolonged blackouts disrupting health care services and causing critical shortages of medicines and cancer-treatment capacity.” 

Canada and Cuba have maintained unbroken diplomatic and cultural ties for over 80 years, with tourists from this country reportedly accounting for over one-third of the island’s international visitors each year. 

Canada’s historic principled stance on Cuba has earned respect in Latin America, and underscored to the region our independence from the U.S.  Each year for 33 consecutive years, Canada has voted in favour of a UN resolution to end the U.S. embargo and blockade of Cuba. Canada’s abstention on a vote to discuss the matter this past July, amid pressures to secure a trade deal with the U.S., was a troubling anomaly.

It is imperative that our foreign policy remains principled and independent of U.S. influence even as Canada faces a trade war and threats of U.S. annexation. “Elbows up” must apply to defending Cuba’s sovereignty, too, especially considering our longstanding relationship and the existential impacts in Cuba of U.S. predatory aggression. 

Voting ‘yes’ at the UN General Assembly to end the U.S. embargo on Cuba is a crucial action to defend lives and UN Charter rights that protect us all. Thousands of Canadians have called for this action, including via the latest petition to the government that NDP MP Leah Gazan will table in Parliament. Many eyes are watching.