Canada's House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development held a special session on February 26, 2026, to address the humanitarian crisis in Cuba, featuring testimony from Cuban activists. The meeting came days after Cuban ambassador Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz appeared, blaming a US 'oil blockade.' Cuban civil society groups urged Canada to push for political change on the island.
On February 26, 2026, Canada's House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development convened a special session to examine the humanitarian crisis in Cuba. Cuban civil society activists and organizations, including the Cuban-Canadian Coalition (CCC) and the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights, were invited to testify before Parliament in Ottawa.
The hearing followed the February 24 appearance of Cuban ambassador Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz, who accused the US government of an 'oil blockade' intended to create the crisis and force regime change in Havana.
Raimet Martínez, president of the CCC, told El Toque that the crisis stems from 67 years of a system unable to govern, resulting in economic, social, and institutional collapse, rather than a recent US executive order. He stressed that humanitarian aid must go through independent civil society organizations and urged Canada to advocate for genuine political change, sanctions on those responsible, immediate release of political prisoners, and internationally supervised multiparty elections.
Yaxys Cires, strategy director of the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights, called for greater commitment from Canada, its government, and institutions to reforms in Cuba, stating that the humanitarian situation requires political, economic, and social changes.
Other witnesses included John Suarez, executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba, and Carolina Barrero Ferrer, president of the NGO Citizenship and Freedom, along with CCC members Kirenia Carbonell and David Mederos.
Canada has been Cuba's top tourist source pre-COVID-19, with over one million visitors annually, and invests in mining via Sherritt International in nickel and cobalt. The Cuban government blames US sanctions for the crisis, but experts point to decades of failed economic and social policies.
The Canadian government announced it would send 6.7 million USD in food aid to Cuba amid a worsening fuel crisis due to slowing oil shipments following US tariff threats. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said she did not discuss Canada's aid plans with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio or other US officials.
Cuban civil society maintains that overcoming the crisis demands democratization after decades of unchecked rule by the Communist Party of Cuba and seeks international support. As Martínez put it, 'the humanitarian crisis cannot be separated from the political crisis, after decades of failed policies, lack of fundamental freedoms, repression, and imprisonment of opponents [which] have led to Cuba functioning today as a failed state.'
