Hymie Rubenstein, editor of REAL Indigenous Report, is a retired professor of anthropology at the University of Manitoba and a senior fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.The many critics of America’s treatment of Cuba since the successful 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro turned that country into a Soviet-style Marxist “paradise” have chronically failed to address the horrific conditions under which ordinary Cubans have had to live for the past 67 years.Rarely mentioned, for example, is that this revolution forced at least one million Cubans, one-tenth of the island’s population, to flee their beloved homeland because of economic strangulation and political oppression.Unless they were members of the political elite, those left behind have always suffered from food shortages and rationing, poverty-level incomes, the arbitrary confiscation of their property, the inability to form opposition political parties, poor medical treatment, constant surveillance, and many other adversities, none of which have anything to do with the long-standing American trade embargo for the simple reason that Cuba has always had trade and diplomatic access to most countries of the world, including Canada. Many of these countries, especially Russia, provided substantial aid to the post-revolution country during periods of extreme, but self-imposed, economic deprivation.The only current constraints are the loss of most aid and other concessions from its traditional patron, Russia, and the fact that since 1960, Cuba has always been on the brink of economic collapse because of destructive collectivistic economic policies, incompetent political administration, and the migration of its best, brightest, and most productive citizens.Still, it is the longest-standing trade embargo in modern history, so it continues to draw much international attention, even though most of its causes are rarely mentioned or downplayed by its detractors. The initial trigger for the blockade was the illegal nationalization of American property in 1960, featuring the Cuban government’s seizure of American-owned assets. After the 1959 revolution, Fidel Castro nationalized oil refineries, sugar mills, and utilities — most without a cent of compensation to their mainly American owners..This seizure remains a legal hurdle to this day: the US Department of State notes that roughly $7 USD billion to $8 USD billion in proven claims for stolen property must be resolved before the embargo can be fully lifted. A second reason for the blockade was a reaction to the Cold War. In 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis, based on the discovery of secret Soviet nuclear missiles on an island-state a mere 90 miles across the Florida Straight, prompted President John F. Kennedy to expand the partial trade ban into a full embargo to reduce the threat to American security. In recent decades, the justification for the blockade shifted toward forcing political change to free the Cuban people from the oppressive yoke of communism. Laws like the Cuban Democracy Act (1992) and the Helms-Burton Act (1996) codified the embargo, stipulating that it can only be lifted if Cuba meets specific conditions, such as legalizing all political activity and holding free elections; releasing political prisoners; and respecting freedom of the press and labour unions.Canadian supporters of the current Cuban political system should tell us whether they would support such restrictions and oppressive conditions in our own homeland.As far as immediate justifications for a tightened embargo, reasons activist critics are now preoccupied with, are the American government's concerns about Cuba’s continued embrace of the current regime in Venezuela, a thoroughly corrupt government that has stolen two elections in a row, is currently harbouring American fugitives, and has close ties to Russia, China, Iran, and other bad actors.It is also worth noting that, like many other Caribbean islands, Cuba’s tourism sector has long enjoyed a reputation as an “economic locomotive” — a term used by authorities who saw it as the lifeblood of the country’s economy..When the Soviet Union imploded in the 1980s, the Cuban government decided that sun, surf, and sand made good economic sense and has done everything it could to revive the tourism industry ever since.And after former US President Barack Obama partially normalized relations with the Castro government in 2015, an uptick in American visitors led to a tourism boom.At its pre-COVID pandemic peak, the sector accounted for ten percent of the country’s overall GDP.But the thaw in US-Cuba relations slowed when the first Trump administration imposed restrictions on travel to Cuba in 2019, just months before the COVID-19 pandemic ground global tourism to a halt. A few years later, the war in Ukraine slowed tourism from Russia.Now, Cuba’s chance of surviving without a functioning tourism industry is highly unlikely, largely because the sector, through the cash spent at its hotels, resorts, and restaurants, is a major source of liquidity for a country already in such financial dire straits that it can be called fiscally bankrupt.The Cuban government invested heavily in the industry during Joe Biden’s administration, hoping that if the former US president approached Cuba with the same warmth that Obama had, it would lead to a post-COVID recovery in tourism. But that never happened..In 2024, the country had 2.2 million visitors, down more than 50% from the 4.7 million tourists it welcomed in 2018. But rather than invest in the country’s poor infrastructure, the government poured billions into a rapidly dying tourism industry.During protests that have flared up across the country since 2021, some of Havana’s most luxurious hotels have become gleaming symbols of inequality, as Cuba’s electrical grid has continuously flatlined and humanitarian conditions have deteriorated. Some experts say Cuba now faces its worst economic crisis since the aftermath of the 1962 Missile Crisis, and the collapse of its tourism industry could be the economy’s death knell.According to Blacklock’s Reporter, diplomats updated a federal travel advisory, warning that conditions were so poor that drivers were fighting in gas station lineups.“All Canadian airlines have suspended service to Cuba until further notice,” said the travel advisory. “Commercial flights remain available through international airlines. However, they may become limited on short notice.”These cancellations are a critically important issue because Canada is by far the largest source of tourists to Cuba, consistently ranking as the top market with over 750,000 visitors in 2025, representing a massive share of total international arrivals..“Avoid non-essential travel to Cuba due to worsening shortages of fuel, electricity, and basic necessities including food, water, and medicine,” said the notice Cuba Travel Advice. “These shortages can also affect services at resorts. Fuel availability has decreased, is difficult to predict, and may disrupt ground transportation.”“Cuba faces chronic and severe shortages of basic necessities including food, bottled water, public water supply, medication, fuel, and hard currency,” said Travel Advice. “Resorts can be affected by shortages.”Ironically, Canadian diplomats, as late as 2021, praised the ruling Communist Party for embracing “social rights,” mindlessly ignoring the absence of basic human rights such as peaceful political protests, free and fair elections between competing political parties, freedom of speech, and the formation of independent labour unions. These are highly cherished human rights in Canada, as in countless countries around the world.These constraints on freedom did nothing to prevent then-prime minister Justin Trudeau from praising Fidel Castro as “a legendary revolutionary and orator” with “significant improvements to the education and healthcare of his island nation,” in a 2016 visit to Cuba, parroting the views of his late father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, a former Canadian prime minister who harboured an intense affection for the country’s long-serving, ruthless dictator.“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,’” said Justin Trudeau. “I know my father was very proud to call him a friend.”With friends like Fidel Castro and his political successors, ordinary Canadians and Cubans need no enemies.Hymie Rubenstein, editor of REAL Indigenous Report, is a retired professor of anthropology at the University of Manitoba and a senior fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. He has been researching and writing about Caribbean issues for over 50 years.The original, full-length version of this article was recently published by Canada Free Press.
