{"id":80007,"date":"2016-11-17T13:40:01","date_gmt":"2016-11-17T18:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oncubamagazine.com\/?p=80007"},"modified":"2016-11-17T13:40:01","modified_gmt":"2016-11-17T18:40:01","slug":"cuba-and-canada-closer-with-trudeau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/society-cuba\/politics-in-cuba\/cuba-and-canada-closer-with-trudeau\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuba and Canada closer with Trudeau"},"content":{"rendered":"

Justin Trudeau has been clear: \u201cThe U.S. elections are not going to change Canada\u2019s relations with Cuba. We will continue working to strengthen our bilateral ties and also to contribute to Cuba\u2019s relations with the rest of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a lecture given this Wednesday in the Aula Magna of the University of Havana, the young Canadian prime minister reaffirmed his country\u2019s commitment to the island, not just in terms of economic investment and tourism but also in assistance and collaboration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not agree with the U.S. focus on Cuba,\u201d he affirmed before the principal Cuban authorities, President Ra\u00fal Castro among them, and a group of university students, \u201cbut it\u2019s not our job to tell our partners what they have to do, but rather create opportunities for Canadian companies and citizens, and also for Cuba. This is the focus we are going to maintain.\u201d<\/p>\n

These affirmations by Trudeau confirm the significance of this visit. Although brief, the Canadian prime minister\u2019s trip seems destined to consolidate the ties between his country and Cuba, at a moment marked by uncertainty after Donald Trump\u2019s triumph in the U.S. elections.<\/p>\n

The visit\u2019s symbolic character is also reinforced by his arrival 40 years after his father, the also Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, who was the first western leader to the visit the island after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution.<\/p>\n